In the heart of Kiambu County, a family’s desperate plea for help resonates, their hope dwindling with each passing day. Their kinsman, Stephen Mutini Karuku, aged 36, has been mysteriously absent for close to eight months, and their attempts to uncover his whereabouts have been fruitless.
The family, in their despair, has reached out to Inspector General of Police, Japhet Koome, seeking his assistance in the increasingly cold case. Mr. Karuku’s disappearance dates back to a seemingly ordinary day in July of the previous year. He had accompanied his brother, Robert Gatimu, to a medical appointment in the town of Thika.
Their story takes a twist when Mr. Karuku decided to stop at a local barbershop. Post his grooming appointment, he attempted to connect with his brother over a phone call, which tragically did not go through. The family recounted the eeriness of his phone ringing for a few fleeting minutes before abruptly going silent. Their efforts to track his phone proved unsuccessful.
That same evening, the family’s alarm grew when Mr. Karuku’s vehicle was discovered near Tetu town, abandoned and conspicuously damaged. The car’s windows were shattered, the radio dismantled, but intriguingly, the rest of the vehicle was left untouched. However, Mr. Karuku was nowhere to be found.
The family’s anxiety heightened upon learning that the police, who had been alerted to the abandoned vehicle, were somehow in possession of Mr. Karuku’s mobile phone. The family questions how the police procured the device if they were not involved in his disappearance.
Adding to the mystery, the family discovered that the funds in Mr. Karuku’s mobile money account, M-Pesa, had been drained.
The family’s distress is palpable. “Our brother was abducted, and we are left grappling with the uncertainty of his fate. We yearn for his safe return. This ordeal has brought us immense suffering,” they expressed.
The plot thickened when it was revealed that the alleged culprits behind the unauthorized withdrawal of funds from Mr. Karuku’s account had been apprehended and charged. However, the connection to Mr. Karuku’s disappearance remains unclear.
The family’s last shred of hope came a year ago when they were informed by the Ruiru DCI that the case had been forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Unfortunately, their hope was short-lived. A recent update from a source close to the DPP suggests that the case file submitted by the DCI was found lacking in crucial details.
The incomplete file has been returned to the police for further investigation into the unresolved aspects of the case. As of now, the family awaits a response, their patience wearing thin, their resolve wavering, but their hope for justice remains undeterred.