The small sitting room was unusually quiet, yet it carried the weight of a story too painful to tell. A black couch, neatly arranged, had once concealed a horror that would leave a family grappling with questions.
Naomi Chebet, a 33-year-old mother of three, is now another name on Kenya’s growing list of women whose lives have been cut short by gender-based violence (GBV)—femicide.
Her death on March 21, 2025, allegedly at the hands of her husband, paints a chilling picture of how domestic conflict, when left unresolved, can escalate into fatal violence.
The couple had reportedly experienced repeated disagreements over the years, arguments so intense that they eventually separated.
But like many survivors of domestic violence, reconciliation seemed like a hopeful path forward. That hope would later prove fatal.
According to Naomi’s brother, Harrison Koech, he travelled to Nairobi on December 31, 2024, after securing employment and moved in with his sister, who was living alone at the time.
Later, Naomi, who had visited their Solai home in Rongai Sub-county for the Christmas holiday, joined him on January 3, 2025. They lived together.
It all began in February 2025, when Naomi and her estranged husband, Samuel Njoroge—whom she had been separated from for close to a year due to violence—decided to reconcile.
At the time, Naomi was working as a stockkeeper in one of the companies in the city and was living in Kangemi, while Njoroge, who worked as a chef, lived in Muthaiga.
A week into the reconciliation, Njoroge moved in, and they began living together again.
“No one knew they had reconciled. I remember asking her why they had gotten back together yet he had assaulted her. I asked if our parents knew, but she warned me not to tell them. I really tried talking to her, telling her he would repeat the same things, but she said they had talked and he had agreed to change his behaviour. She wanted her children to grow up with both parents,” Koech said.
According to Koech, a month in, the violence allegedly resumed.
Their disagreements, he said, were often triggered by minor issues. When he was around, Njoroge would pretend to be calm, while Naomi concealed the abuse.
Koech said Njoroge would assault Naomi when he was away at work, often taking advantage of his late returns. At one point, Naomi grew tired and decided to move out, even securing a house in Kasarani.
“Naomi could sometimes come home with complimentary items given at work, and it would anger Njoroge. He thought they were from other men and would not accept any explanation. She would protect him by not telling me. I would only notice through the scars. She would hide them with makeup,” he said.
Hours before her death, Koech said he passed by his sister’s house and found that she had already left for work, and only found Njoroge.
Later in the day, Njoroge passed by Koech’s workplace in Kangemi as he proceeded to a local entertainment joint.
On that day, Koech had planned to close early at around 7 pm, but his boss asked him to stay longer to print merchandise, a task that ran until midnight.
After work, he decided to pass by his sister’s house before heading home. By then, he had moved into his own house within the same neighbourhood.
“I knocked on the door, but no one was opening. Luckily, the door had not been locked, so I went in. I found Naomi lying on the couch, covered with a blanket. I knew it was normal to find her sleeping on the couch. She would sleep there until her husband came back, and the same applied to him. I tried waking her up, but there was no response. I decided to sit for a while and ended up dozing off,” he said.
The following morning, he woke up at around 9am after his phone rang; his boss wanted him back at work.
He attempted to wake Naomi, as she usually attended church, but there was no response. He prepared to leave for work, but before stepping out, he tried again with no response.
Alarmed, he uncovered the blanket and made a grim discovery.
Her face was swollen, and her body was cold, with no visible bloodstains. Naomi was dead.
Unsure, Koech called one of Naomi’s friends to confirm what he had seen before reporting the matter at Kangemi Police Station.
The friend informed Koech that Naomi and Njoroge came home at around 7pm and that Njoroge left at around 10pm, wearing a face mask.
Her body had been arranged on the couch and carefully covered, as though to conceal the crime in plain sight. Njoroge disappeared after the incident, leaving behind a lifeless body and a trail of unanswered questions.
Naomi’s body was later moved to Chiromo Mortuary as Koech began the painful process of informing relatives and seeking justice.
“When I came that night, I did not want to wake her up. My sister was already dead. I wondered why she had not even changed her sleeping position. I just thought she had turned and gone back to the same position. There was no sign of violence that night. He knew I would pass by, so he left everything in order. Njoroge left with her mobile phone,” he said.
A post-mortem conducted on her remains revealed that she died of asphyxia secondary to manual strangulation.
The pathologist also noted that Naomi suffered a traumatic brain injury caused by blunt force trauma.
At her home in Solai, Nakuru County, Esther Koech is overwhelmed with emotion as she recounts the murder of her daughter, Naomi Chebet, a 33-year-old mother of three, on March 21, 2025, in her home in Kangemi, Nairobi.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation
Naomi’s mother, Esther Koech, recounted a long history of violence that she said her daughter endured in silence while trying to protect her marriage.
Naomi, she said, was her firstborn among seven children and had shown promise from a young age.
She recalled that her daughter met Njoroge while working as a librarian at Akuisi Secondary School in Solai, and the two later got married. However, the relationship quickly turned abusive.
According to Ms Koech, teachers from the school where Naomi worked would occasionally visit her home, urging her to intervene and ask her daughter to leave the relationship due to the persistent violence.
The situation worsened over time, with repeated incidents of assault that, at one point, left Naomi seriously injured and requiring medical attention at the Nakuru Teaching and Referral Hospital.
Ms Koech said the family reported several of the incidents to the police, and in 2022, Naomi left her marriage after her husband beat her while she was pregnant with their second child.
She stayed at home until she gave birth, and after her daughter turned one, she moved to Nairobi after securing employment and tried to rebuild her life.
However, the cycle of separation and reconciliation continued.
Ms Koech said her daughter often called home in distress, reporting fresh incidents of abuse. On one occasion, Naomi reported that her husband had threatened to harm her and their children, prompting the family to intervene and report the matter to authorities.
Her mother believes fear, hope for change, and the desire to raise her children in a two-parent household may have influenced her decisions.
“She loved her husband, but he never loved her. She really went through a lot in his hands. Our pastors really tried talking to her, but she was not listening to us. I pleaded with her to leave that man and concentrate on raising her children,” she said.
In her final days, Ms Koech said Naomi sounded distressed during phone conversations, at times speaking in a low tone and appearing fearful.
She called her that Saturday, but she did not answer her phone. One of her daughters was unwell, and she needed money to take her to the hospital.
In the evening, Naomi called and told her mother that she was busy at work. She sent her Sh1,000.
At around 9 pm, she called again, but her voice was not jovial. She wanted to know how much had been paid at the hospital before ending the call. The next day, her daughter was dead.
“That was the last time I talked to my daughter. She was my daughter, but we were like sisters; we could advise each other. Every day I remember her. Two days before murdering her, he had threatened to kill her, and he did. I do not know if I will ever get justice,” she said.
More than a year later, the man suspected of killing Naomi remains at large.
Despite the gravity of the case, no arrest has been made. The suspect is still on the run, leaving Naomi’s family not only grieving but also yearning for justice.
Back in Solai, Nakuru County, her father, Philip Koech, said they are now raising her children, young lives forever altered by the loss of their mother.
Philip Koech displays the portrait of his daughter, Naomi Chebet. She was murdered on 21 March 2025 at her home in Kangemi, Nairobi, allegedly by her estranged husband, Samuel Njoroge.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation
He said that the burden of care has fallen on them, noting that they are struggling to provide emotional and financial support.
“I do not know if I will ever get justice over my daughter’s death. The suspect is free; sometimes he comes to his parents’ house, but there is nothing I can do. Sometimes we update the investigators, but they always dismiss us. We do not know where to turn,” he said.
Naomi’s story is not an isolated incident; cases of gender-based violence continue to rise, with many victims trapped in cycles of abuse that often go unnoticed until it is too late.
In Naomi’s case, the repeated disagreements and eventual separation were clear indicators of a troubled relationship. Yet, like many victims, she returned, hoping for change.
A report by the National Police Service (NPS) and the National Crime Research Centre (NCRC) showed that at least 129 women were killed across the country between January and March 2025, with most of the murders reported in Busia, West Pokot, and Nandi.
March recorded the highest number of female deaths at 44, followed by January (43) and February (42).
In 2024, 597 female victims of femicide were reported, compared to 534 in 2023 and 526 in 2022. Men were responsible for 85 percent of the cases and women for 10 percent.
The perpetrators in the remaining five percent of cases are unknown. Female-perpetrated murders were particularly high in Nairobi (21 cases) and the Central region (19 cases).
Of the 47 counties, Kisumu, Kilifi, and Nairobi recorded the highest rates of murders with unknown perpetrators.
Experts say Naomi’s story reflects a common but deeply misunderstood pattern in abusive relationships.
According to psychologist Dorcas Njuguna, many victims of gender-based violence do not simply “choose” to return to abusive partners; they are often caught in complex emotional and psychological cycles.
She explained that past experiences, including childhood trauma, can also influence how individuals respond to abuse, sometimes normalising harmful behaviour or making it difficult to walk away.
Ms Njuguna noted that financial dependence, societal expectations, fear, and the desire to maintain a family unit often further complicate decisions to leave abusive relationships.
“Victims develop what we call trauma bonds. These are strong emotional attachments formed through cycles of abuse and reconciliation. The abuser hurts you, then apologises, promises change, and shows affection. Over time, this creates confusion and dependency. Many victims stay because they fear the consequences of leaving. Some perpetrators threaten to harm them, their children, or even themselves. In such situations, leaving can feel more dangerous than staying,” Ms Njuguna said.
