Kisii police exhume body of missing woman as 72-year-old man detained

Police in Kisii have finally exhumed the body of a 54-year-old woman who mysteriously went missing two months ago.

The body of Zipporah Omari was exhumed from a shallow grave from a thatched house in Mwembe opposite Kisii Cathedral, and a 72-year-old man is currently being held at Kisii Central Police in connection with the gruesome murder. 

According to the deceased's family members, Zipporah, a widow, had decided to cohabit with the main suspect, also a widower, by the name of John Agwacha, for the past one year.

Concerns about Zipporah's whereabouts were raised by her tenants within Mwembe Estate after she failed to collect rent arrears for the past two months.

“Sisi baada ya wapangaji kuraise alarm tulianza kupiga report kwa vituo vya polisi... ndio baadaye kuna majirani wakatuambia kwamba mwili umeonekana na kwamba mama amezikwa hapa. Tunataka tu haki," Zipporah's son Nyambati Omari said.

Reports from the DCI indicate that the main suspect, John Agwacha, confessed to having committed the heinous act by hitting the deceased with a blunt object before burying her remains in a shallow grave at 11:30pm. He later recanted the statement, claiming he is innocent.

“Mama ambaye amepotea kwa muda sasa tumehakikisha ametolewa na mwili unaonekana wake. Uchunguzi tayari unaendelea," explained Kisii Central Sub-County Commander Musa Imai.

The suspect will be remanded at Kisii Police Station for the next 30 days as the family calls for justice. The remains of the late woman were taken to Kisii Hospital's morgue, awaiting autopsy.