Police in Nyeri are questioning a woman whose husband died in mysterious circumstances in a house fire a week ago.
Charles Chomba, 49, whom locals had known for years as a butcher and owner of Roasters Butchery in Kiawara Shopping Centre, died in a house inferno on July 14 this year.
Police have since detained his wife, Njambi Gabuuwa, after residents protested on Tuesday and stopped a planned funeral.
They accused the widow of being a prime suspect in the incident, pointing out that there were only two of them in the house at the time of the fire.
Speaking to Nation.Africa , Kieni West Sub-County Police Commander Samuel Ndegwa said the woman, who moved to her parents' house after the incident, was arrested on Tuesday night.
“We have heeded the cries of the residents and will detain the deceased’s wife at the Nyeri Central Police Station while we conduct further investigations,” he said.
A post-mortem report released by the Nyeri County Referral Hospital morgue showed that the deceased died of suffocation, but locals said they were not satisfied with the report.
Angry residents protested and stormed Kiawara police station, accusing the sub-county Directorate of Criminal Investigations Office of conducting a shoddy investigation.
Drama ensued as they carried a coffin containing his remains, chanting "justice for Chomba" for nearly two hours, paralysing activities in and around the police station.
Jerald Kung'u, a resident who had known the couple for years, said the two had an acrimonious relationship as their marriage was marked by frequent separations.
“It was common for Njambi to leave her matrimonial home for some time whenever she got into a fight with her husband, although they would resolve their issues afterwards,” said Kung’u.
On the day their house caught fire, locals said Njambi had just picked her husband up from work at around 1.30am, claiming she was worried he was staying up too late. The deceased had been doing some renovations at his butchery.
The house went up in flames in mysterious circumstances at around 2.45am. Police said the couple were the only ones in the house at the time of the incident.
Ironically, residents said most of their belongings had been salvaged and wondered why he had died in the inferno.
Neighbours who came to help put out the fire said they questioned Njambi about her husband's whereabouts.
“She claimed that he was not in the house, but a few hours later, after we had put out the fire we discovered that someone had been burnt beyond recognition,” said Kung'u.
When they realised what had happened, Kung'u said that the crowd who had helped put out the fire attacked the widow, questioning her explanation. Fortunately, she was whisked away by police officers at the scene.
“It was peculiar that Njambi managed to escape, even securing some of their belongings, including her clothes, yet her husband succumbed to the burns,” said Kung’u.
Mr Ndegwa said that following the protests, the matter has since been handed over to the Nyeri County Criminal Investigations Office for further investigations.
“As per the demands of the residents, we have also returned the body to a private morgue for a second post-mortem. Locals will have the freedom to choose a pathologist of their choice,” said Mr Ndegwa.
Nyeri County Criminal Investigations Officer (CCIO) Kennedy Nyaga, who has since taken over the case, said they would conduct forensic tests on the burnt property to determine the cause of the fire.
“The information collected will be compared to the specimen we got from the deceased’s body,” he said.
