Last Friday, Eunice Akinyi, 18, left her parents’ home at Milimani village in Kwanza, Trans Nzoia County, to collect her leaving certificate from the nearby Kesse Secondary School where she sat her Form Four exams last year.
She had hoped to use the document to secure her place at a vocational training college in Makueni County. But this was never to be.
Her dream was brutally cut short by assailants who raped and murdered her before dumping her body in a thicket near home.
An analysis of the crime scene established that her assailant(s) tortured her before killing her. Her legs were tied while her neck had strangulation marks.
The incident has left her family devastated and thrown her Milimani village in a sombre mood, with villagers struggling to come to terms with the incident.
The deceased’s parents, Beatrice and Masika Barasa, said that their daughter left home on Friday but never returned.
Robert Masika, Eunice Akinyi's father, speaking to journalists.
Photo credit: Evans Jaola | Nation Media Group
The family is now urging police to hasten investigations and bring perpetrators of the crime to book.
"She was supposed to join a college in Makueni this week to pursue a course in beauty therapy. That is why she went to pick the documents to facilitate her admission," her distressed father told Nation.Africa.
He said the family had launched a search after her disappearance, only to learn about a body that had been discovered in a maize plantation near the village.
According to Eunice’s family, their daughter had not reported having issues with anyone.
Area chief Alex Wabete assured the family that investigations were on, while also expressing hope that arrests will be made.
"We are calling on anybody who has information on this heinous act to come forward," he appealed.
