Lucy Njambi's killers forced her to swallow acid

A past photo of Lucy Njambi who died after being assaulted. PHOTO | COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • The 24-year-old is said to have been raped, beaten and dumped in a coffee farm.
  • She died at Kenyatta National Hospital on Friday.
  • Her husband, who is in police custody, is the main suspect in the murder but detectives are pursuing other suspects.

Lucy Njambi, the 24-year-old woman who died after being physically assaulted, was forced to swallow acid that her attackers later doused her with, the postmortem showed on Tuesday.

The chemical was found in her body, according to Dr Bernard Midia, the forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy at Kenyatta National Hospital.

He said the specimens have been taken to the government chemist for a toxicological screen to reveal the nature of the chemical used and determine if the substance had affected her internal organs such as liver and lungs.

Other specimens from the body are also being analysed to reveal if Njambi was raped, Dr Midia said.

ACID
The report also shows that the victim had been strangled because her neck and hands bore bruises, an indication that she had struggled in self defence

The pathologist however said Njambi died as a result of the chemical burns after the assault.

He put the degree of her burns at 60 per cent, contrary to earlier examinations reports that had indicated 75 per cent.

Representatives of the family and detectives investigating the murder were present during the Tuesday afternoon exercise.

ABDUCTED
Njambi had been living in a rented apartment with her four-year-old son for a month after moving out of her husband’s house in Lavington following a family dispute.

A witness said she was abducted on Wednesday night last week by her husband Samwel Ndung’u, the former MCA for Riruta Ward in Nairobi, and others, from her apartment in Thindigua, Kiambu County, and driven to an unknown destination.

She would later be found abandoned near a coffee plantation at Kamiti Corner in Ruiru, naked and badly burnt.

A Good Samaritan took her to Kiambu Level Four Hospital, where she narrated her ordeal to police officers.

SUSPECTS

She said her husband and three others had assaulted her, raped her and doused her body with an unknown substance.

She died at Kenyatta National Hospital on Friday, hours after she had been referred there from the Kiambu hospital.

The death of Njambi, who was described by neighbours and relatives as chirpy, caused outrage on social media as Kenyans online condemned the murder.

Her husband, who is in police custody, is the main suspect in the murder but detectives are pursuing other suspects.

Kiambu investigations chief Paul Wambugu said: “The analysis required ... is a complex affair that requires some time. But we are doing our best...”