A 19 year old Multi Media University first year student Erick Mutinda alleged to have murdered Sylvia Kemunto also a fellow student and ex-girlfriend has been detained in custody for three weeks.
Kibera Magistrate Zainab Abdul allowed an application by the state to detain the suspect for 21 days to allow police complete investigations.
The prosecution is seeking a custodial order of 21 days to allow for the completion of investigations.
Mutinda presented himself on April 4 at Sultan Hamud in connection with the case after being on the run for days.
The prosecution told court that they are investigating a murder and believe he may have committed the offence.
Family lawyer Danstan Omari said the family is devastated, adding that the offence constitutes femicide — a crime targeting a specific gender — and warned that such offences could pose a threat to the female population.
He asked court to take judicial notice that the offense alleged to have been committed within Multimedia University, an institution where every parent sends their daughter believing it to be a safe haven.
However, the defense lawyer representing Mutinda opposed the prosecution’s application saying his client has not been formally charged.
He further argued that detaining the suspect beyond the arrest date — which was last Friday — would be a violation of his rights.
According to court documents, preliminary investigations indicates that the deceased and suspect were both first year students at Multi media University pursuing Bachelor of science Electrical Engineering and telecommunications and Bachelor of Mathematics for computer science respectively and we’re both in a relationship since September 2024.
However, it is alleged that the late Kemunto ended the relationship in February this year but Mutinda was still persistent and continued harassing her until her untimely demise.
Magistrate Abdul agreed with the state’s application saying liberty is not a fundamental right and thus it is only fair to detain the suspect to allow police conclude investigations
