A 34-year-old Kenyan man allegedly chopped
off the hands of his wife with a
large knife because she cannot have children, in
what is said to be the most atrocious cases of
domestic violence. 28-year-old Jackline Mwende
from Kathama Village, Masii in Machakos
County, had her hands chopped off at the wrist
by her husband, Stephen Ngila Thenge.
She is also nursing injuries on her head and
neck from the gruesome attack.
Relatives say
the couple had been having issues and Ms
Mwende wanted to leave her husband but was
advised against it by “their pastor”
Ms Mwende, who spoke told the Nation Kenya
at her father’s Kathama home, where she now
stays after her discharge from the hospital on
Friday, July 29, said that before the attack, they
had separated for about three months over
failure to have children.
“I could not understand why he was blaming me
yet we had gone to hospital last year and the
doctors had said he was the one with issues,
which could be corrected,” she said.
She said
her husband, a tailor at Masii town, refused to
follow up on treatment.
“He moved out of our house three months ago
and came back on Sunday (July 24) at around
8.30pm. When I opened the door, he said ‘today
is your last day’ and started slashing me with
the panga.”
Ms Mwende called out for help but the man
fled before neighbours arrived.
“They were all afraid of touching me, they
thought I was dead.
I was rushed to Machakos
Hospital where I was given painkillers and got a
blood transfusion. I was discharged on Friday.”
Shocked villagers described Mr Thenge is a very
“polite man”.
The man was arrested on Monday
July 25 in Machakos town hours after he fled
his home in Masii. Ms Mwende’s jobless
parents are now appealing for help to take care
of their child. Mr Samuel Munyoki said:
“We want justice for our daughter. The person
who did this should pay for it. She is now
disabled and will need artificial hands to get her
life together but we can’t afford anything. We
are poor, we can’t even afford her painkillers.”

