Woman kills two stepdaughters, dumps bodies in a dam

The two children went missing on Tuesday evening. [iStockphoto]

Police in Eldama-Ravine have arrested a woman who allegedly confessed to killing her two step-daughters and dumping their bodies into a nearby dam.

Olivia Jepchirchir Kirui, who was arrested on Wednesday, July 13, today led police to Chemususu dam where the bodies of Shanice Jebet, 4, and Ivy Cherop, 7, were retrieved.

Eldama-Ravine deputy sub-county police commander Caxton Nduda said they were holding Jepchirchir for the murders and that she will be arraigned once investigations are completed.

The bodies of the two children were moved to Eldama Ravine Hospital mortuary awaiting postmortem.

According to Poror-Arama sub-location assistant chief Jackeline Kiptoo, the two children went missing on Tuesday evening.

Their father, Jonathan Kipkemboi Kesses, said he left the two in the company of their stepmother and uncle James Kipruto on Tuesday evening.

When returned home at around 8pm, Kipkemboi said he found the home empty. He tried calling friends and neighbours but they too could not trace his wife and kids. His wife finally showed up at midnight with a unique explanation of what had transpired.

The two girls had come to visit their father during the recently ended school holidays. The girls school in Mauche, Narok County, where they live with their mother, Kipkemboi’s first wife.

“They were supposed to travel on Sunday, but the dad didn’t have fare. He said he had left the two girls in the company of their step-mother and uncle on Tuesday evening,” said Kipkemboi

Kipkemboi and Jepchirchir went to the area chief who directed them to report to Eldama-Ravine police station.

According to Mr Nduda, Jepchirchir said that on the said night, she left the children alone at home and went to buy a matchbox at a nearby shop.

In the police statement recorded on Wednesday morning, Jepchirchir says that when she returned, she was attacked by an unknown person who covered her head and stabbed her on her left arm. She lost consciousness and woke up at midnight on a nearby maize farm.

“We arrested her when we noticed lots of inconsistencies in her story. She then confessed to knowing the location of the two girls. She led officers to Arama forest where they looked for the bodies until nightfall. They didn’t find them,” said Nduda.

On Thursday, the courts granted police more time to investigate the matter after angry residents staged a demonstration, closing the

The two girls would be later found at around 12pm.

“The step-mother took us to Chemususu dam where the bodies were found sixty meters apart, with one floating in the dam. They all had homemade ropes tied around their necks. We suspect that they were hanged,” Nduda confirmed.

The bodies were taken to Eldama-Ravine hospital morgue. Police are still looking for the girls’ uncle. Jepchirchir will be taken to court on Friday.