Fourth year Moi University student stabbed to death in fight over lover

A fourth-year student at Moi University in Eldoret has died after he was stabbed several times by a fellow student in a suspected lover triangle.

Steve Wairimu, a hotel and hospitality management student at the university’s Eldoret town campus, and a friend were said to have visited his girlfriend on Monday evening at her off-campus hostel at Pioneer Roma on the outskirts of Eldoret but found her with another man, a first-year student at the same university.

Other students living in the same hostel told the Nation that an argument ensued between the two, leading to a fierce fight.

“I was in my room with my friend Dickson when Steve came with his friend. When Steve saw me with him, an argument erupted between the two. I tried to separate them but in vain,” said Faith Bwire, the estranged girlfriend and a first-year student.

Dickson is said to have rushed to the kitchen, where he picked up a knife and followed Steve and his friend, who had both left the house.

BLEEDING PROFUSELY

“It was only when I was on my way to the security office to report the incident that I stumbled upon Steve writhing in pain on the stairs and bleeding profusely. That is when I discovered that he had been stabbed,” Faith told the Nation.

Steve died as officials of the student council and the hostel management rushed him to hospital.

He is said to have sustained multiple stab wounds in the stomach, kidney and heart.

When the Nation visited the hostel on Tuesday, students were talking in hushed tones as they tried to come to terms with the Monday 9pm incident.

A blood-stained knife, believed to be the one used to commit the murder, was still at the scene.

The attacker was later apprehended while on his way to town by the hostel’s security officers and students and was held at the security office awaiting police.

ANGRY STUDENTS

Police officers from the Langas Police Station had to shoot several times in the air to disperse rowdy students baying for the suspected killer’s blood.

Eldoret South deputy police boss Isa Manja said they were holding the suspect as they launched investigations into the incident.

“Love affairs among students should be discouraged. Their parents struggle a lot to pay school fees and they should concentrate on their studies until the right time,” said Mr Manja.

Isaac Alando, a journalism student, said cases of students killing each other over love affairs were on the rise.

In July 2015, a student at Moi University's West campus beat his 21-year-old girlfriend to death.

The man, a student at another university, was later killed by an angry mob after he attempted to commit suicide.