Soldier on the run: Gender officer attacked for defending family land rights
Uasin Gishu county officer in charge of gender Esther Muigei is
assisted by her daughter to board a car after reporting an assault by her husband following a land dispute.
What you need to know:
- Husband faces arrest and arraignment for assault.
- Wife sought to bar sale of land at registrar's office.
A gender officer in Uasin Gishu County is nursing serious injuries after she was allegedly assaulted by her husband, a retired military officer, when she attempted to block him from selling family property without her consent.
Police have embarked on a manhunt for the former soldier who has gone into hiding. The incident occurred on January 6 at the Eldoret Land registrar's office, where Esther Muigei had gone to put a caution on the prime land her husband, David Muigei, was planning to sell.
It is alleged that the move to put a caveat on the property infuriated the husband, prompting him to pursue his wife to the land registrar's office. Esther, who is in charge of the gender services docket in Uasin Gishu County, is nursing serious injuries allegedly inflicted by her husband.
Speaking to the media after filing her report, Esther said David cornered her as she was leaving the registrar's office and kicked her on the cheek and body. “I fell unconscious with blood on my face, before members of the public came to my rescue and helped to rush me to a private hospital for urgent medical care.”
She said David wanted to sell their prime land in the Ziwa area without her consent, something that forced her to move quickly to the land registrar's office where she obtained caution stopping disposal of the property.
Officer Commanding Turbo Police Station Patrick Wekesa said they had launched a manhunt for the former soldier in connection with assault and causing grievous harm to his wife.
Read: Love or wife battering?
David is said to have switched off his mobile phone after going into hiding upon learning that detectives were pursuing him. “The former military officer's wife indeed reported the matter at the Central Police Station and her statement regarding an assault was entered into the Occurrence Book,” Mr Wekesa said, adding they had yet to record statements from those who witnessed the incident.
“It is just a matter of time before the former soldier, who has gone underground, is arrested to account for his action.”
