Man stabbed to death after domestic dispute with 18-year-old woman

An 18-year-old woman who allegedly stabbed her husband to death during a domestic dispute over money at their rented house in Huruma Estate, Nairobi, has been charged with manslaughter contrary to Section 205 of the Penal Code.

Damaris Nthoki is accused of unlawfully causing the death of her husband, Shadrack Mutinda Makau, during the fight last month.

Makau had returned home drunk at around 8pm and asked his wife if their caretaker's son had come to collect rent, to which she replied that she had not seen him.

He also asked her if she had bought maize flour and vegetables and she told him that she did not have the money.

The deceased informed the suspect that he had left Sh500 on top of the cupboard and told her to spend only Sh150 on the flour and vegetables.

However, the deceased followed his wife to a kiosk where she had gone to buy vegetables and demanded his money back in full even though Nthoki had already spent Sh90.

She left him outside and returned to the house, keeping the remaining amount of money - Sh410 - on the cupboard. Makau returned to the house and asked for the money and the suspect showed him where she had kept the remaining money after buying vegetables.

The two began to argue before a fight broke out during which Nthoki allegedly picked up a knife and stabbed the deceased in the thigh. 

She told the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) that after the fight, the deceased left the house and returned around 11pm and apologised to her.

He then fell on the floor and she went to sleep, leaving him there. She told the DCI during the investigation that she thought her husband was unconscious because he was drunk.

Nthoki told her neighbours the next day that her husband was still unconscious in the house and the neighbours called a Nyumba Kumi official who informed the area chief and the police.

Officers from Huruma Police Station went to the scene and found the deceased and the suspect in the house where they arrested Nthoki. 

A bloodstained knife suspected to be the weapon used to kill Makau was also found in the house.

The DCI took the knife and bloodstained clothes as evidence.

Makau's body was taken to a mortuary where a post-mortem was later conducted and the autopsy revealed that his death was caused by excessive bleeding from a stab wound.

Nthoki denied the charges before Senior Principal Magistrate Agnes Mwangi at the Makadara Law Courts on Tuesday. She was released on Sh500,000 bail with a surety. 

The case will be mentioned on November 16 ahead of trial on April 16 next year.

Neighbours interviewed by the police said the two regularly fought in their house and some of them were listed as witnesses alongside the Nyumba Kumi official and police officers.