Taxi operator, 23-year-old woman's lover detained over her murder
Latifa Akumu went missing in Nairobi. Her body was found dumped in Tharaka Nithi.
Two men are in police custody following the murder of a 23- year-old woman.
Latifa Akumu Orimba was killed in Nairobi last month and her body dumped in Nithi River in Tharaka Nithi County.
A taxi driver, Erick Kariuki Nthiga, and Latifa's boyfriend Daniel Kariuki Wamutitu have been detained for 14 days for interrogation over her heinous murder.
The duo will assist police to unearth how Latifa met her death and how her body ended up in Nithi River, hundreds of kilometres from her city High Rise residence.
Kibera resident magistrate Babra Akinyi heard that Latifa disappeared on October 26 and 27, 2026, a time she is believed to have met her death.
The investigators told the court that the deceased was murdered by her boyfriend Kariuki.
According to a missing person report made at Langata Police Station, Latifa left her home and went to a Salon within the Highrise Market and never returned. It further says that her two phones 0721401638 and 0723455772 had been switched off.
The magistrate heard that her alleged boyfriend was the last person to be seen with her.
Kariuki was arrested on October 30, 2026 and presented before Kibera Law Courts for custodial orders.
Nthiga, the court heard, is an accomplice in the murder as he allegedly assisted Kariuki to ferry the body of the deceased from Highrise Nairobi to Nithi River in Tharaka Nithi County.
The magistrate was urged by both the prosecution and family's lawyer Cliff Ombeta to deny the suspects bond claiming they are a flight risk.
The court heard that Kariuki has three residences in Kahawa West, Ongata Rongai and Kibra, but that after the alleged killing, he relocated to Limuru Greenleaf Apartments.
“It took concerted and combine efforts of security apparatus to arrest the suspect on November 6,2026,” the court heard.
The magistrate further heard that the suspects would be subjected to a mental examination to ascertain whether they are fit to stand trial for the killing of Latifa.
The witness statements are yet to be recorded and NTSA records about the car that transported the body to Tharaka Nithi yet to be obtained.
In her brief ruling Ms Akinyi said, “Police need to be given humble time to complete the investigations as the suspects are being probed for murder, which is a capital offence.”
Ms Akinyi ordered the suspects be returned to court on November 23, 2026 for further directions.
Earlier Mr Ombeta had submitted that the family of Latifa was mourning their mother when she met her death.
Follow our WhatsApp channel for breaking news updates and more stories like this.
