At 5:30pm on June 20 this year, Naomi Nduta left home in the company of her sister.
The two had spent the day doing chores at their Githarara home in Longonot and intended to while away the evening at the local pub.
In high spirits, they walked to the nearby shopping centre, promising their relatives that they would return soon. It was never to be.
Nduta lay dead on the railway line several hours later. Her death to date remains a puzzle to family members.
Soon after arriving at the sleepy shopping centre that gets busy as the day wears on, they entered an entertainment joint.
The siblings engaged in animated talk before they were joined by two men whose identity remains a mystery.
“Before they left the bar, they incurred a bill of Sh310, which Nduta’s sister settled, before they went to another drinking joint to make merry,” said Nduta’s brother, Isaac Njuguna.
“The second bill was paid by one of the men,” he added.
Giving a sequence of events, Mr Njuguna said his sisters went to a third bar, within the dusty shopping centre where Nduta, a social drinker, stayed until 1am, as seen on CCTV cameras.
The security cameras did not capture Nduta’s sister, who to date has not discussed the matter, even with her family.
Nduta’s lifeless body was later found on the railway line in Longonot, supposedly ran over by a train.
The family buried her a few weeks ago, but is not fully convinced that she was killed by the train.
“There a lot of loose ends. The place where the body was found is not a route she normally used on her way home. She was not a heavy drinker, she has never been,” said a troubled Njuguna.
Nduta’s friend Veronica Josephs is also sceptical. “I was among the first people at the scene. She was half naked. Who removed her clothes?” she asked.
“We need to know the truth. I am troubled, her family members too are anguished. We buried her but we remain restless,” she added.
The brother is in a similar predicament, while their mother is devastated. They have become paranoid. They don’t want to pursue the case further.
“We don’t have the financial capacity to unravel the matter. We just want to know what exactly happened. Who will tell us the truth?” asked Nduta’s mother.
Nimeachia mungu kila kitu (I leave it all to God),” she added.
Investigators pursuing the case have visited the home several times, but remain mum on the progress of investigations.
“They were here, asked questions and left,” said the brother.
A senior police officer at Naivasha police station told Nation.Africa that the matter was being investigated by their counterparts in the railway department.
"The matter is being handled by their side. They have their own team that is mandated to deal with such cases unless they seek our assistance," the officer said. The railway boss was said to be out of the country.
Was Nduta, a mother of three, murdered and her body placed on the railway line to make it look like she was killed by the train?
Who wanted her dead and why? If indeed she was run over by the train as documented who removed her inner clothing?
“She was an introvert. It is unlikely she had disclosed her next move but that is just my thinking,” said the brother.
“Even if she had made her travel plans known, why would anyone want to kill her because she was scheduled to travel?” he wondered.
For now, her friends and family members can only hope that someday they will find out the truth. They are keeping their fingers crossed, hoping the police will unravel the mystery … will they?
