Some of the women and girls who have been murdered.
Ivine Cheche Chepkoech was preparing supper for her family at her grandmother’s house when she was attacked by a man believed to be a jilted lover.
The 17-year-old was hit on the back of the head with a blunt object by a man believed to be her ex-boyfriend. She lost consciousness.
The victim’s grandmother was milking cows a few metres away when the incident occurred on April 26. Chepkoech, a former student at Moi Girls’ Siongiroi, scored a B- in her KCSE exams last year and was due to enrol at the Kenya Medical Training College in September.
Ivine Cheche Chepkoech.
“When the grandmother returned to the kitchen, the girl was missing. She was startled by the blood, which she initially mistook for nosebleeds,” said Mr Kiprono Langat, chief of Merigi in Bomet County.
She realised that the trail of blood led outside the house, through the garden, and to the tea bushes a short distance away.
“She wailed, attracting the attention of the girl’s mother, who had just arrived home,” Mr Langat said in an interview. “Together, they followed the trail of blood and disturbed grass in the compound.”
Ivine was led through the tea bushes to an open field, where she was brutally murdered.
“She was hit twice on the neck and once on the waist. She also had injuries to her head and face. She was attacked with a blunt object,” said Mr Michael Mwenda, the Bomet East sub-county police commander.
The post-mortem report showed that the girl had died of excessive bleeding and trauma caused by a blunt object. “I am devastated by the murder of my daughter, whom I struggled to raise and educate. What crime did she commit to warrant this kind of attack?” Ivine’s mother, Gloriah Cheptoo, said.
The murder highlights the rising number of femicide cases in the country related to failed love affairs and unresolved domestic disputes. This has left families shattered and communities gripped by fear, grief and outrage.
Despite the arrests, prosecutions and convictions of suspects, the cases continue to spiral, and more women are being killed or maimed.
Counselling psychologist Ms Faith Queen Chebet said the rising number of cases is due to unresolved trauma among couples and their failure to communicate healthily.
“They have also failed to use the dispute resolution channels available to them. It is important to create safe spaces where people can speak up, engage in dialogue, and curb aggressive tendencies, which are increasingly becoming common as a result of social, economic, and health pressures,” said Ms Chebet.
She added, “It is important for couples to open up and embrace dispute resolution channels in order to deal with short-term or long-term issues affecting them.”
She told the Nation that family support systems and a healthy family environment are needed to deal with conflicts instead of allowing them to build up. “Mental illness and emotional stress are the main causes of the increasing number of femicide cases,” she said.
These killings reflect a wider crisis in which women and girls continue to lose their lives, primarily at the hands of people they know.
Across homes and villages, their stories stir equal measures of sorrow and fury, as Kenyans question how many more women must die before decisive action is taken.
In Nakuru County, at least three women were killed in separate incidents within one month, all of which were linked to intimate partner violence, exacerbating the gender-based violence crisis in the region.
On April 14, a KDF officer is suspected of killing his wife, Annita Mugweru, during an argument. This reportedly happened in the presence of their four-year-old daughter at their home in St Mary’s Estate in Nakuru Town East.
She succumbed to her stab wounds while receiving treatment at a hospital in Nakuru.
Anita Mugweru who was brutally murdered at her house in Upper Hill Estate in Nakuru County on April 16, 2026.
However, when the suspect was arraigned on April 28, the proceedings were halted after medical findings indicated he was not mentally stable enough to stand trial.
He was committed to Mathari National Teaching and Referral Hospital, where he will undergo mental rehabilitation. It is said that the officer is suffering from bipolar mood disorder with poorly treated psychosis.
Family members said the couple’s relationship had been on the rocks, and that Annita had considered separating from her husband due to violence and threats.
Jackline Awuor, a 30-year-old security guard from Nakuru, was killed and beheaded.
In Nakuru, Jackline Awuor, a 30-year-old security guard, was brutally murdered and beheaded on March 29 in Bahati. She failed to report to work, prompting a search. Her dismembered body was found in a quarry.
Police tracked her 35-year-old lover, Evans Abutu, to Kakamega County, where he was arrested. He led officers to where he had dumped her head and the murder weapon.
Kabatini MCA Leah Wambui urged couples to resolve conflicts peacefully, seeking counselling when necessary. “Families need to seek mediation from elders, religious leaders and professionals whenever conflicts arise. Unchecked anger and suspicion can end in tragedy.”
Elga Ryaga, the Nakuru County Gender executive, said that this trend points to a broader societal problem that requires coordinated action. She called for stricter enforcement of laws, public awareness and more accessible support systems for victims of domestic violence.
Rose Benta Apondi.
In Nyanza, a family in Siaya recently found their 21-year-old daughter, Rose Benta Apondi, dead after searching for her. “The cause of death is indeterminate as the body was badly mutilated and decomposed,” said government pathologist Dixon Mchana. He said that her remains had been mutilated by wild animals.
The crucial organs required for a post-mortem examination, including the stomach, liver and gallbladder, had all been destroyed.
Benta’s sister, Dorine Achieng, said that she had been receiving threats from her ex-boyfriend ever since she announced her intention to end the relationship. “Benta said her boyfriend had threatened her for ending the relationship. She went missing two weeks after breaking up with him,” said Ms Achieng. In Central Kenya, 20-year-old Diana Cherono was murdered, and her body was dumped in a sewer near Meru University on April 7. Her parents were unaware that she had been killed for three weeks.
Diana, a student at the Rift Valley Institute of Science and Technology in Nakuru, was due to travel to her rural home in Chepkirib village in Bomet Central during the Easter holidays when she was killed.
Diana Cherono, the Rift Valley Institute of Science and Technology student, who was found murdered in Meru and body dumped in a sewer.
Her parents, Richard and Peris Cheruiyot, desperately tried to reach her, but her phone was switched off. On April 29, they learned from the local chief that she had been killed more than 450 kilometres away from home.
“Cherono did not reveal any plans to travel to Meru, nor did she show any signs of stress or indicate that her life was in danger. The fact that she was murdered and her body dumped in the sewer is devastating,” said Peris.
The mother and daughter had last communicated on April 3.
In North Rift, last month, in Elgeyo Marakwet County, a man killed his wife and two children due to a long-running domestic feud.
The suspect allegedly attacked his 40-year-old wife as she slept by hitting her on the head with a blunt object. She died instantly. He then turned to their two children, aged 12 and 5, and strangled them before informing a neighbour of the murder.
“The suspect looked disturbed three days before committing the murders. He did not disclose what was troubling him,” said Ms Susan Koech, the Koibatek chief.
In Baringo, a 62-year-old traditional birth attendant was killed by a man after unsuccessfully assisting his wife to deliver by the roadside. The man allegedly shot the midwife, Anna Cheserek, with an arrow, accusing her of causing the death of his newborn child in an incident at Ayatya village in Baringo West.
The murder of eight-year-old Bernadette Keziah Matuki in Kilifi sparked outrage and renewed calls for justice and stronger child protection measures. The Grade Two pupil was found dead the day after she went missing from Mwenzagombe Bofa home on May 3.
In Mombasa, a young girl was killed after being defiled in March. The 11-year-old is believed to have been killed by Anthony Juma, 38. A Mombasa court has ordered Mr Juma to undergo a mental health assessment before pleading to a murder charge.
Julius Ogogo, Centre for Litigation Trust boss, condemned the cases of femicide and violence against children, saying they reflected systemic failures in the country’s protection and justice systems. Vocal Africa Rapid Response Officer Nahida Kassim described the growing number of femicide cases as deeply alarming.
“The silence of the Ministry of Gender, Culture, the Arts and Heritage, the State Department for Gender and Affirmative Action, and other relevant state agencies at a time when women and girls are becoming increasingly victimised by brutal violence is worrying,” she said.
Willy Kiprono’s wife went into labour at their remote village, which has no health facilities. He sought help from the traditional midwife. But when the child did not survive, he shot her with poisoned arrows and later surrendered to police, carrying the murder weapons.
In the Coastal counties of Mombasa and Kilifi, at least five women and young girls have been brutally killed in the recent past, each case serving as a chilling reminder of the growing dangers in a society struggling to confront gender-based violence.
One of them is Elizabeth Nina, 34, who was five months pregnant when she was murdered and her body dumped inside an incomplete building in Likoni.
Elizabeth Nina, the 36-year-old woman whose body was found dumped in an unfinished building in Likoni, Mombasa County after she went missing.
On March 18, she left her home to celebrate Eid at a friend’s house, but her body was discovered four days later.
Police said her body bore bruises on the face and swelling on the right ear, believed to have been caused by a blunt object.
Elsewhere in Kilifi County, the murder of eight-year-old Bernadette Keziah Matuki sparked outrage and renewed calls for justice and stronger child protection measures.
Eight-year-old Bernadette Keziah Matuki who was on May 4, found murdered at Mwenzagombe, Kilifi County.
The Grade Two pupil was discovered dead a day after she went missing from her home in the Mwenzagombe Bofa area on May 3, where she had been playing with others by the roadside. Her lifeless body was found dumped by the roadside the following day.
In Mombasa County in March, another young girl was killed after being defiled. The 11-year-old is believed to have been killed by 38-year-old Anthony Juma, alias Kipara.
A Mombasa court has since ordered that Mr Juma undergo a mental assessment before formally taking a plea to a murder charge.
Mr Juma is linked to the murder of the Grade Five pupil at Buriani Primary School, whose body was found dumped in the Manyani area of Kisauni, days after she disappeared on March 15 while returning home from a local church.
Investigators established that the minor had been blindfolded, gagged with pieces of cloth stuffed into her mouth and tied on both hands and legs before she was strangled to death. Her body was later stuffed inside a sack and wrapped in a blanket.
A post-mortem conducted at Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital confirmed that the child had been defiled before being killed.
Centre for Litigation Trust Executive Director Julius Ogogo condemned the increasing cases of femicide and violence against children, saying it reflected systemic failures in the country’s protection and justice systems.
“We cannot continue losing women and children in such horrific circumstances while institutions mandated to protect lives remain reactive instead of preventive,” said Mr Ogogo.
He called for stronger community protection structures and tougher action against perpetrators, saying delayed justice and weak enforcement were contributing to a dangerous culture of impunity.
Vocal Africa Rapid Response Officer Nahida Kassim raised similar concerns, describing the growing number of femicide cases at the Coast and across the country as deeply alarming.
“Silence by the Ministry of Gender, Culture, the Arts and Heritage, the State Department for Gender and Affirmative Action, and other relevant state agencies, at a time when women and girls are increasingly becoming victims of brutal violence, is worrying,” she said.
Likoni Member of Parliament Mishi Mboko said cases of women being assaulted and killed had been increasing in Mombasa County while police appeared to be neglecting their duties.
Bomet East Member of Parliament Richard Yegon said the attacks against girls and women are uncalled for, undeserved, and should be condemned by all in society.
“It is unfortunate [that] the women have died in the hands of brutes,” he said.
Mr Yegon said perpetrators of the crimes should be put behind bars for a long time to serve as a deterrent measure to the rising cases of femicide in the region.
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-Reporting by Vitalis Kimutai, Mercy Koskei, Brian Charo, Angeline Ochieng, Barnabas Bii, Florah Koech and Bernard Rotich
