Confessions of hardened 'mchele' woman who spikes with no regrets

 

For the families of Hannah Magiri, 20, and John Mbugua, 30, their fresh graves with sprouting flowers evoke bitter memories of their cruel deaths.

The two died two months apart but their deaths had an ironic coincidence- they had set out to have fun at their favourite entertainment spots in Nairobi, but the night out would trigger events that would see them end up in morgues.

Their families and friends say they were drugged but while most victims of what is commonly referred to as spiking of drinks regain consciousness many hours later, their loved ones never woke up.

Magiri was laid to rest at Muchatha village, Banana in Kiambu Countyon April 28, this year after the horrific night out at a club in Ruaka.

Mbugua died two weeks ago, his 30th birthday When we meet Cindy (not her real name) at Mama Ngina recreational park, she brags about her conquests.

Such is her notoriety that she even records herself as she ransacks her victims' houses for valuables as the owners lie unconscious.

She showed us video clips of her latest two victims, whom she described as "Mafala wako loaded" (stupid moneyed men).

In the first case, Cindy narrates how she drugged the man at a bar after he invited her to his table. "When I moved to his table, he was a bit tipsy, which made it easy for me to start kissing him," she said.

Within a few minutes, I had sipped his drink and laced it with mchele (Rohypnol) concealed between my front incisor teeth and my front lip.

She said Rohypnol is available in selected medical centres but only with a doctor's prescription or bribe. The drug, a blue tablet, is medically meant to calm down people with mental problems.

Rohypnol is addictive and gives a sleepy 'high' if consumed by a 'normal' man. The drug, when combined with alcohol, gives a very potent effect on the target.

One of the videos has Cindy so comfortable at her victim's house. So comfortable is she that she has the luxury of counting her loot, Sh15,000 in Sh1,000 notes and about Sh1,000 in small denominations.

She disclosed that she had applied the drug on her breasts in that particular incident.

"When using this technique, you coax your victim into sucking your breasts, and he will start feeling dizzy immediately and unconscious shortly after," she said.

Asked if spiking men's drinks after their generosity to her pricks her conscience, she said she does it for survival in the shamba la mawe (concrete jungle) that is Mombasa," adding that she has never been caught by any of her targets.

John Masha, a veteran taxi operator at the coastal town of Mombasa, said the main danger facing men out partying is not thugs anymore, but 'mchele'.

"Women with 'mchele' (slang for sedatives used to spike drinks) have been robbing men blind in this town for as long as I can remember," he said.

He admitted that some of his colleagues collude with criminals to ferry drugged victims to their homes where they are divested of money or household items.

Most victims of spiked drinks cannot tell exactly what happened after they became conscious. One minute they are having fun and the next, its lights out. In most cases, surviving the ordeal serves as a turning point towards a more sober life, with victims happy to be alive.

Victims who spoke to The Standard told of their ordeal in the hands of these women, all of whom initially looked harmless until they launched their attack administered in a series of sips.

Like the case of Humphrey (real name withheld), a respected member of his community and one of the elders in his church: "I never used to be this religious in my youth all the way to my 40s," he said.

But all that changed the night he met Kanini (not sure if that was her real name). His last and only recollection of that night's events is that of Kanini pulling off his shoes as he lay on the bed, too drunk to do anything for himself.

"The next morning, they (hotel attendants) were banging at the door to clean the establishment when they found me lying on the bed stark naked," he said.

He said if it were not for the fact that he was breathing too hard, they would have concluded he was dead.

And like many victims, Humphrey did not not report to the police. "I did not want my wife to find out that I was cheating on her with a commercial sex worker," he said.