Students deny killing colleague
Photo | COURTESY Serah Aruwa, a final year student at USIU, was kidnapped by her college mate and her body found in a thicket five days later.
By VINCENT AGOYA vagoya@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Tuesday, July 10 2012 at 22:21
Posted Tuesday, July 10 2012 at 22:21
Two students suspected of being behind a kidnap-for-ransom ring in Nairobi were have been charged with the murder of a colleague.
Mr Duncan Livingstone Kimanthi, a fourth year student at the United States International University (Usiu), and Ms Winnie Wairimu Kariuki, of the Kiambu Institute of Science and Technology, denied killing Ms Sarah Akello Aruwa on the night of June 30/July 1 at Kiamiako in Githunguri, Kiambu County.
Ms Aruwa, who was a fourth year International Relations student, had been kidnapped by gangsters who called her family for a Sh100,000 ransom. (READ:Missing USIU student found dead)
The prosecution told Mr Justice Nicholas Ombija that the offence was committed jointly with others not in court.
Prosecutors Catherine Mwaniki and Daniel Karuri asked the court to allow police to hold the suspects further in custody “as they may face additional charges depending on the outcome of an investigation still ongoing”.
The suspects are scheduled to appear in a Makadara court today for mention of a separate case in which they are accused of abduction and robbery.
They were charged in Makadara last week with abducting and secretly confining a student at the Usiu, Ms Mellisa Omondi Ouko, on May 10.
In the case, they also face a capital charge of robbing Ms Mellisa Omondi of a mobile phone and cash, all valued at Sh36,000.
The prosecution at Makadara had asked the court to have the suspects detained for a week so they could help police trace Ms Omondi, who had reportedly been missing for two months since her abduction.
On Tuesday, State counsels prosecuting the murder case told the court that the suspects are required in Makadara for mention of the abduction case.
The court allowed the police to hold the suspects at the Kasarani Police Station till July 17 when they will appear before Mr Justice Ombija for further orders. They are represented by lawyer Stanley Kang’ahi.
Ms Aruwa’s body was found in a thicket a day after her disappearance but was not immediately identified, with police treating the case as that of a missing person.
Police in Githunguiri had collected her body on July 1 but booked it at the City Mortuary as that of an unknown person.
Her captors had used her mobile phone to send a text message to her parents demanding a Sh100,000 ransom.
A decision by Ms Aruwa to leave the contacts of a man who allegedly invited her to his house helped detectives arrest the suspects.
The police suspect she had been lured into a trap. The case has been set for hearing on December 5 and 6.
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