NAIROBI, Kenya Jan 27 – Thousands of Kenyan women on Saturday held a peaceful march against femicide in Nairobi and other towns after increased cases.
The women, who were joined by several other men waved placards saying “being a woman is not a crime, protect women and stop killing women” called for protection and tough action against perpetrators.
They were also joined by members of the Law Society of Kenya led by its President Eric Theuri who demanded justice for women killed recently in Nairobi and other parts of the country.
Nairobi Women Representative Esther Passaris was also in the march that went through city streets before they headed to Uhuru Park.
The march follows the murder of socialite Starlet Wahu and JKUAT student Rita Waeni whose bodies were discovered in short-stay houses in Nairobi, in what paints a grim picture of the extent of femicide in the country.
According to Africa Data Hub, 500 cases of femicide have been reported since 2016 with many of them committed by people well known to the victims.
Most of them are committed by a friend, relative, or intimate partner of the murdered woman.
In recent cases, Wahu’s body was discovered in an AirBnB in Nairobi’s South B and a man believed to have killed her was arrested days later while seeking treatment at a hospital.
Investigations have shown that she was stabbed several times before her body was locked in the room where she spent the night with the man just after the festivities.
In the case of Waeni, police said her dismembered body was found dumped in a polythene bag next to a dust bin outside the shortstay house a man had booked to spend time with her.
The man is reported to have been spotted leaving the house in bloodstained clothes, raising an alarm.
Police were yet to arrest the main suspect by the time of this publication.
