Woman charged with attempted murder after trying to run over boyfriend's wife

A businesswoman who allegedly tried to run over her boyfriend's wife during a fight over the man and the house where the couple lives has been charged with attempted murder.

Nduta Wangai, 36, is accused of trying to kill Rebecca Ngumi by attempting to run her down with a car on January 5, 2024.

She allegedly hit and attempted to run over the complainant at Ridgeways estate in Starehe Sub-county, Nairobi.

Ms Wangai also faces an additional charge of malicious damage to property, where she is accused of damaging Ms Ngumi's property worth Sh1 million.

She allegedly damaged Ms Ngumi's gate, her garage wall and her Mercedes Benz vehicle. 

Ms Ngumi was preparing to go to work when she heard someone at her gate.

She sent her house help to check and the house help found Ms Wangai at the gate.

Ms Wangai told the house help that she had come to speak to Ms Ngumi's husband and the house help returned to the house and informed her employer.

Ms Ngumi informed her husband and they both walked to the gate. Her husband went out to talk to the suspect but they had a disagreement and she drove her car into the gate.

Run for her safety

The complainant began to run for her safety, but the suspect allegedly drove straight at her before she took cover. The suspect also allegedly sprayed the complainant with a substance suspected to be acid.

Ms Wangai allegedly reversed several times to hit Ms Ngumi, but instead hit and damaged Ngumi's car as the complainant took cover.

Ms Ngumi called the police during the incident and officers responded.

The suspect allegedly vowed to kill the complainant during the incident and made several attempts to run her over before Ms Ngumi took cover between objects in her compound. However, Ms Wangai fled the scene after learning that the police had been alerted.

Detective Constable Erastus Matuanga of the Starehe DCI's office had sworn an affidavit opposing bail for the suspect, but it was not produced in court.

In the affidavit, Matuanga said investigations had revealed that there was a dispute over the house where Ms Ngumi lives with her husband.

“The accused (Ms Wangai) claims to have contributed to its purchase through the complainant’s (Ms Ngumi’s) husband and instead of seeking legal remedy to solve the matter, decided to use violent ways to claim the same and it is feared that once released on bond, she will pursue the claim through the same means which may even lead to murder,” Matuanga said in the affidavit.

The detective added that the investigation team is yet to record statements from some key witnesses due to their work commitments.

Ms Wangai denied the charges before Senior Principal Magistrate Helen Okwani at the Makadara Law Courts and pleaded for lenient bail and bond conditions. She said she is a mother of four children, the youngest being seven years old.

She was released on a bond of Sh1 million without an option of a cash bail.

The case will be mentioned on April 9 before the hearing starts on July 4.

Ms Ngumi’s husband is listed as a witness in the case.