Residents are in shock after a woman who had been missing for three days was found raped and brutally murdered in the sprawling village of Riangiri in Embu County.
Surprisingly, the decomposing body of the deceased, identified as Lilian Nkatha, 35, was found hidden under the bed in a neighbour's house.
Nkatha had injuries on her head, neck and left hand, a clear indication that she had been brutally murdered.
A casual labourer who was last seen with the deceased is now the prime suspect in the gruesome murder of the married woman with two children.
According to the family and residents, the deceased disappeared around 11am on Sunday when she was last seen alive.
The family said Nkatha was called by the labourer in the neighbourhood and they went together, but the family became suspicious that something was wrong when the deceased did not return home in the evening.
On Monday, the family and residents began a thorough search of the farms and bushes for the deceased, but they did not find her.
On Tuesday, the family and locals resumed the search and when they did not find the deceased, they reported the matter to the police for investigation.
On Wednesday, however, the family became concerned when they saw flies hovering over the neighbour's house and a foul smell emanating from it.
They reported the matter to the police, after which detectives went to the scene and broke into the house, which was locked from the inside, only to find the deceased lying in a pool of blood under the suspect's bed.
"When we learnt of our daughter's mysterious disappearance, we searched everywhere for her without success and then informed the police and took statements," said Rose Makena, Nkatha's sister.
Ms Makena narrated how their pleas to a local administrator to help them search for the deceased fell on deaf ears.
"When we told the administrator that our daughter was missing and we wanted his help, he ignored us," said Ms Makena.
The family said Nkatha called her husband Peter Muriithi, who works in Meru, on the suspect's mobile phone on Sunday morning and they spoke.
But when Muriithi later called his wife on Monday to find out how she was, he could not reach her because the suspect's phone had been switched off.
Sensing danger, he rushed home and was shocked to find his wife missing and joined residents in the search.
"Sadly, my wife's lifeless body was found in the house where the suspect was staying," lamented Mr Muriithi.
"We are now crying for justice, our daughter's life has been lost and the person responsible should be punished according to the rule of law,' said Mrs Makena.
According to other reports, Nkatha was seen having drinks with the suspect at a local bar before she was reported missing.
"We are appealing to the family and locals to be patient and wait for the conclusion of investigations," said one of the detectives, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to brief the media on crime matters.
Detectives said the matter was being treated as a murder and the suspect would be charged with a capital offence once arrested and investigations complete.
They appealed to residents for any information that could help in the swift arrest of the suspect, who is well-known in the area.
Earlier, angry residents tried to demolish the neighbour's house in protest but were stopped by police.
