Detectives at Kilimani Police Station are investigating the mysterious death of 54-year-old Zaituni Kavaya, a Kibera resident who had been hired for laundry work on the fifth floor of an apartment along Mpunga Road in Kilimani.
Police confirmed that five members of a Sudanese family who had contracted her services have since been arrested in connection with the incident.
According to her daughter, Faith Kavaya, she was called to Kilimani Police Station after failing to reach her mother on phone.
She said she had carried some tea for her mother, only to be informed of her death when she arrived.
“I told them this tea will get cold, let’s give mum the tea so that she can drink it, then they broke the news to me and told me, ‘your mother has passed away.’ The only thing we were told is that she fell from a building, but we weren’t given any other details.
“We went to City Mortuary, and when we got there, we found it was my mum. Mum had left while she was fine, I was expecting her to come back safely,” she said.
Court documents presented during the suspects’ detention hearing revealed that the tragedy is believed to have stemmed from a bitter dispute over missing cash.
The son of the household reportedly claimed that money had gone missing from a pair of trousers that had been washed by Kavaya.
“The son of the owner of the house did not find his money in one of the pockets, so he called her to ask where the money was.
“Kavaya denied knowing anything about it, and when the family insisted on reporting the matter to the police, she tried to escape and fell from the balcony,” the suspects’ lawyer, Wilson Hassan Nandwa, said.
However, Kavaya’s relatives have dismissed this explanation, insisting that she was the victim of foul play and demanding justice for her death.
A post-mortem examination revealed that Kavaya died from multiple injuries caused by heavy blunt force.
The five suspects are being held at Kilimani Police Station as investigations continue.
