Police hunt matatu driver after 19-year-old stabbed, dumped in thicket

Moraa had set out for Busia on Monday, August 3, but instead found herself travelling towards Kakamega.

The driver remains at large, while Sylvia fights for her life at Kenyatta National Hospital.

Moraa sustained numerous injuries after she was allegedly assaulted by a passenger vehicle driver and left for dead in Mbale.

After failing to raise fees for a technical college, the 19-year-old decided to travel to Busia to start a new life as a salonist.

She arrived in Nairobi and boarded a matatu at the stage. Neither she nor her fellow passengers knew that the vehicle was headed for a completely different destination.

Moraa, an alleged victim of the attack, said passengers began questioning the driver after the vehicle reached Nakuru.

“We reached Nakuru, so people were like, ‘Unatupeleka wapi? Hii njia unatupeleka si yenye tunafaa kwenda.’ The matatu driver was like, ‘Si mnge-sema kutoka stage.’ He became rude,” Moraa recounted.

The vehicle, identified by Mbale police as registration KDS 885G and belonging to Safi Line SACCO, was briefly detained in Nakuru that day over traffic offences before it was released.

Moraa said the driver later attacked her after they reached Mbale in Kakamega County.

“It was in Kakamega, a place called Mbale. He grabbed my neck and told me, ‘Mmenisumbua from Nakuru na nimekasirika sana.’ He told me, ‘Unajua naweza kukuua?’ I asked him what I had done to him, and he told me, ‘Msichana nyamaza.’ He took out a knife, put it here and hit it against the cabin at the front," she recounted. 

"Then he grabbed my neck and did this with the knife. He told me to lie on his seat because I had already urinated on myself. He told me to put my head on the seat, took the knife and cut me around the ears, then slapped me."

The ordeal did not end there.

“From there, sijui kama alinidunga dawa juu alikuwa na syringe akifanya hivi. From there, nilijipata hosi,” she added. 

Moraa's mother, Rose Nyang'ara, said she learnt about the incident after receiving a call from a police officer in Mbale.

“Mtoto wangu nilipigiwa simu saa kumi na moja na nusu na askari wa Mbale. Hapo ndio nilijua mtoto wangu amepatwa na shida. Akaniambia, ‘Mtoto wako tumempata kwa kichaka kama amevamiwa,’” Nyang'ara said.

Citizen TV tracked down the owner of the vehicle in an attempt to piece together a clearer picture of the driver now being sought by police and also tried reaching him by phone.

Safi Line SACCO chairman David Simiyu confirmed that the vehicle was part of the company's fleet, saying it belonged to his wife.

“Activate call KDS 885G. Exactly, the vehicle is in my company. It is one of the vehicles in my company and it belongs to Mill Center, who is my wife. From the vehicle, I really didn't bother much, but those people were telling me that the guy removed his belongings, including a knife. I don't know. I just have to report to the police. I'm a law-abiding person, and I feel so bad for that young girl,” Simiyu stated.

Attempts to reach the driver by phone were unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, Moraa remains in critical condition at Kenyatta National Hospital as police continue their search for the suspect.

“Niliambiwa niko na shida kwa kichwa. Hapa kwa maskio nahitaji kuoshwa itibiwe. Mguu, I can't walk. Kifua inahitaji scanning. I need justice,” she remarked.