A family from Mukuru kwa Njenga estate in Nairobi is grieving the tragic loss of their seven-year-old daughter, Jedida Mwende, whose body was found murdered and burnt beyond recognition along Maasai Road in Embakasi.
Jedida, a Grade One pupil, went missing on July 11. Her mother, Hellen Kemunto, reported the disappearance to Villa Police Station the same day but alleges that no official record of the report was made as she was denied an Occurrence Book (O.B.) number.
Weeks later, police contacted Kemunto with a photo of a burnt body found in Embakasi and directed her to the City Mortuary, where she identified the remains as those of her daughter.
"When I opened the coffin and saw the body with the cloth she had, I knew it was my child," Kemunto said.
However, the family’s distress deepened after Kemunto’s ex-husband, Munyau Mbituka, disputed that the body was their daughter’s, preventing her burial. Jedida was their only child from a marriage that ended after nine years.
Kemunto revealed that they were advised to conduct DNA testing and a postmortem at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), but the results have been delayed.
Meanwhile, the murder investigation remains at a standstill more than a month later, with Embakasi Police Station stating that officers are still gathering information. No arrests have been made in connection with the killing.
Kemunto is appealing to authorities to expedite the DNA results so she can lay her daughter to rest and pursue justice.
