Woman miscarries over lost husband

Bernard Muya Kariuki left his home in Matete Village in Webuye on July 1, 2014 to head to the hospital to see his expectant wife.

His wife Shila Amina, 27, had been admitted the previous day because of a complication that had been detected during an ultrasound. After further tests, the doctors assured the couple that everything was okay.

“He was happy that there was nothing endangering me or the baby. He had told me that he was waiting for the doctors to finish attending to me before he came to pick me up,” said Amina.

Daily contracts

However, shortly after he left his home, which is a few minutes drive from the hospital, Kariuki was never seen or heard from again.

According to Amina, not even his parents who live in Nakuru or his brothers and sister have heard from the soft spoken man.

“I waited in hospital for several hours until I started panicking. Everyone I asked, including his friends, informed me that they were not aware of his whereabouts. I was discharged from hospital and the first thing I did was to embark on a journey to find my husband,” she says.

Following the ordeal, Amina was so traumatised that she had a miscarriage a few days later.

The 37-year-old Kariuki was a matatu driver but he did not have a specific vehicle assigned to him.

He, therefore, relied on daily contracts from public service vehicle operators.

However, none of the touts or drivers at the Webuye bus stop, who were his friends, knew where he was.

Sole provider

“I continued to look for him. I searched in hospitals and mortuaries. There was an accident at Kipkaren recently. I rushed to the scene to personally look at the bodies in the hope that even if he was dead, I would be able to see him again. Unfortunately he wasn’t there.”

The thing that hurts Amina the most is the fact that Kariuki was the sole provider of the family, as she took care of their three children.

“I have been to the police station numerous times but they told me that they would call if they got any information. They attempted to track his phone but after three consecutive days of his phone being out of reach, they told me tracing the device would be impossible.”

Kariuki’s elder sister, Mary Muya, said her brother lived with Amina and she wonders how he would just vanish.

“I want my brother back because it has been several months now and no one has heard from him. We pray that we do not lose our brother,” said Muya who lives in Nakuru.

Matete OCS Paul Imala said police were tracing Kariuki’s whereabouts but when the trail went cold, they made appeals to the public through the media to provide information that would lead to the unravelling of the mystery.

They have not received any leads yet.