A 20-year-old Kenyan woman died after allegedly being raped by her boss six days after starting work for him.
Cynthia Nanjala died on June 2, 2022, two weeks after she was discovered naked and brutalized in a hidden location in Nairobi’s Lunga Lunga slums.
Cynthia told her sister that her boss had raped her, but she didn’t say anything further for over two weeks before she died.
Yvonne Mbone Muruli fought back tears as she described her last moments with her sister while she was taken to Kenyatta National Hospital on Friday, June 10. (KNH)
Ms Muruli, the second of ten children, expressed sorrow for coming to Nairobi.
Ms Nanjala, who had dropped out of school in Class 7 due to family obligations, packed her belongings and flew to Nairobi. She stayed for a few days at Ms Muruli’s house in Kangemi before heading to Ms Mbone’s residence in Kawangware. She spent a few weeks there before returning to work in Embakasi in May.
“We couldn’t have been happier. Our mum has been ill for a long time. Her body has ballooned, and we’ve never been able to afford to pay for her treatment. We knew that any contribution Nanjala made would go a long way toward assisting us in obtaining her adequate treatment,” Ms Muruli said, adding that her mother had still to receive a diagnosis two years later due to a lack of cash.
This is the end result of everything.
Ms Muruli’s cousin encouraged her to report the incident to the police. But it didn’t happen right away since Ms Muruli was also caring for her son, who was in the same hospital.
Ms. Mbone contacted Ms. Nanjala’s boss to inform him that her sister had been admitted to KNH.
“Nanjala’s bosses claimed they hadn’t seen her in a few days. “They stated she left the house around 7 p.m. one day to get clothes off the drying line, and they hadn’t seen her since,” Ms Muruli added.
The family began to suspect anything was amiss at this point. Ms Nanjala’s sisters had not been told of her disappearance by her employer.
Ms Muruli discovered her sister at KNH was a complete surprise.
Ms Muruli’s cousin encouraged her to report the incident to the police. But it didn’t happen right away since Ms Muruli was also caring for her son, who was in the same hospital.
Ms. Mbone contacted Ms. Nanjala’s boss to inform him that her sister had been admitted to KNH.
“Nanjala’s bosses claimed they hadn’t seen her in a few days. “They stated she left the house around 7 p.m. one day to get clothes off the drying line, and they hadn’t seen her since,” Ms Muruli added.
The family began to suspect anything was amiss at this point. Ms Nanjala’s sisters had not been told of her disappearance by her employer.
Ms Muruli discovered her sister at KNH was a complete surprise.
Masai Mutua, the Embakasi sub-county Police Commander, confirmed the occurrence and stated that they were awaiting a conclusive post-mortem report before proceeding.
“Investigations are still ongoing in this case, and we expect to follow up on leads provided by the post-mortem report,” he said.
