[News] Kenyan man arraigned for threatening to kill his wife and mother-in-law

A Kenyan man who allegedly issued death threats to his wife and mother–in–law during a scuffle is facing charges of threatening to kill contrary to section 223 of the Penal Code.
Kennedy Ochieng is accused of threatening to kill Mercy Murugi at her house in Njiru on November 2, 2023.

 

Ochieng is said to have uttered the words “wewe nitakuua na msichana wako (I will kill you and your daughter)” to his mother in law without any lawful excuse, words that police and the Office of the Public Prosecutions believe amount to threats to Ms Murugi’s life.

 

Ms Murugi had returned home to find her son–in–law arguing with her husband and intervened.

 

However, the suspect allegedly hurled insults at her and dragged her out of the house after she asked him what he was doing at the house.

 

Ochieng is said to have gone ahead to insult the complainant together with her daughter allegedly declaring he will kill them and boasting he was not afraid of the police.

 

The suspect and his wife had previously separated but Ochieng has been blaming his mother–in–law for his troubled marriage.

 

Ms Murugi reported the matter to the police and the following day, officers accompanied her to the house, and the suspect was arrested and placed in custody on November 4, 2023.

 

During investigations, police established that Ochieng had allegedly threatened to kill his wife and mother–in–law severally, before the incident.

 

Ochieng denied the charges before Senior Principal Magistrate Helen Okwani of the Makadara Law Courts.

 

He was released on a bond of Sh100,000 without an option of a cash bail.

 

The case will be mentioned on January 23, 2023, before the hearing starts on April 23 next year.

 

Ms Murugi’s two immediate neighbours who witnessed the incident are listed as witnesses in the case against her son–in–law, together with the officer who investigated the case.