Woman with knife stuck to cheek bone fighting for life at KNH

KENYA: A woman is fighting for her life at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) after her husband allegedly stabbed her several times following a domestic quarrel.

Fatuma Ibrahim, 32, was taken to Wajir County Referral Hospital yesterday morning with severe bleeding from knife wounds. A knife was also lodged in her cheek and doctors at the facility were unable to dislodge it.

A doctor, who could not be quoted since he is not authorised to speak to the media, said they were unable to remove the knife that was stuck at the woman's cheek bone. "We have been struggling since yesterday morning to remove the knife that was stuck in the victim's right cheek since she was brought to hospital by her relatives. We have now referred her to Nairobi, where an operation can be done to dislodge the knife," he said.

Ibrahim, a mother of 4 children is said to have been attacked by her husband following a domestic quarrel that has been going on for several weeks.

The assailant, Mohamed Deeq, 36, is alleged to have pounced on his wife with a knife shortly after returning from a herding expedition, after picking a quarrel with her.

Ibrahim raised alarm immediately and the assailant's elder brother responded to her distress calls and dispossessed the knife from Deeq.

As his brother went out to report the matter to a neigbouring police station, Deeq returned and secured another knife and resumed stabbing his wife all over her body.

The knife hit Ibrahim's right cheek bone and stuck, which made him unable to continue stabbing her, after which he fled from the scene.

Neighbours who heard the commotion and saw him running away with blood stains all over his clothes rushed to the victim's house, where they found her writhing in pain and in a pool of blood.
Residents described the incident as the worst domestic violence to ever happen in the county.

Wajir East OCPD Benson Makumbi said the incident occurred at Korof Harar in the outskirts of Wajir County.
He said the assailant was arrested by officers from the local police station and would be taken to Wajir police station for interrogation. He added that Deeq will appear in court today.

PATIENT AIRLIFTED

The victim was later transferred to KNH, eight hours after being stranded at Wajir County Referral Hospital, as she could not be airlifted on a commercial flight due to lack of identification documents.

It took the intervention of Wagberi Chief Hassan Abdi Sheikh to write a letter, introducing her as a Kenyan from Wajir County, before she was airlifted aboard an Amref flying doctors plane.

The letter read in part: "The above named patient hails from Khoros Harar location. She needs to be airlifted to get urgent medical attention. She is well known to me and she had no identification document to prove her nationality despite her being a Kenyan".