WAKIKUYU NAO.... Police in Karatina have arrested a woman who had faked a kidnap in order to defraud her husband of Sh500,000. Ms Mary Njeri, 22, who is a mother of one had alleged to have been kidnapped on her way to Karatina from their home in Ngandu area on Friday afternoon. But she was later found having good time with another man in Thogoto, Kikuyu, Kiambu County on Sunday. According to police reports, Ms Njeri had claimed to have been kidnapped when she boarded a vehicle heading to Karatina. Upon boarding the vehicle, she was reportedly confronted by three ladies and one man who forced her under a seat. The vehicle then sped towards Kirinyaga according to initial kidnap reports. Karatina OCPD Rashid Mohammed said he received the news of the kidnapping on Friday evening. He promptly dispatched his officers to all the possible areas where Ms Njeri could have been held hostage. COORDINATED SEARCH “With the spate of kidnapping taking place in our neighbouring county, Kirinyaga, we could not afford to waste a minute on the issue. I took it as my personal duty to coordinate the search and rescue mission. I immediately deployed my officers to three different locations where we thought she could be found,” said the police boss. Peter Kabingu, her husband, told journalists that he received a phone call from his niece informing him that his wife had been kidnapped on her way to Karatina and was in a vehicle heading to an unknown destination. He said he had left his wife at home and she was to meet his niece in the afternoon to make arrangements for his sisters wedding. “We had agreed that she come to town (Karatina) in the afternoon where we would connect with my niece so that they could together proceed to a tailor to buy dresses for my sister’s forthcoming wedding,” said Mr Kabingu. TEXT MESSAGE At 5pm, Mr Kabingu’s niece received a text message from Ms Njeri informing her that she had been abducted and they were way past Karatina heading to Kirinyaga. She immediately notified Mr Kabingu who abandoned his duties to search for his wife. “I tried to call her on her phone since it was the one that was used to send the text message. When I found that it was off, I concluded that something was terribly wrong,” he said. Mr Kabingu sought the help of his Member of County Assembly (MCA) who immediately reported the matter to the Karatina Police Station and a search mission was launched. “Friday night was the longest night of my life. I could not believe that this could be happening to my wife of four years. I had to take care of our young child if the unthinkable happened to my wife,” said Mr Kabingu. On Saturday morning, Mr Kabingu received a call from the alleged kidnappers ordering him to send a ransom of Sh500,000 if he wanted his wife alive. On negotiating, he was allowed to send a down payment of Sh10,000 which the kidnappers would use to communicate with him. With the help of his friends, he quickly raised the amount and sent it directly to his wifes mobile phone and embarked on efforts to raise the remaining balance. In the meantime, police were working on links from their informers. WITH ANOTHER MAN On Sunday afternoon, Ms Njeri was found with her boyfriend, Peter Mugo in Thogoto, Kiambu County. Mr Kabingu said he could not believe it when he received the information that his wife was found squandering the money he had raised to rescue her with another man. “I have done all I could to make her happy. I have always provided everything that she needed and we have never had a single conflict since we married four years ago. I am yet to comprehend why she could do this to me,” lamented Mr Kabingu. He said it would take him time to heal and he would decide on his next move once he has consulted his parents and his in-laws. Area residents have condemned the incident saying that it could make those in genuine kidnapping ordeals not receive help promptly. “I spent my Sunday afternoon informing my area residents of the unfortunate incident and sensitising them on the dangers of boarding strange vehicles. I am ashamed I will have to go back and inform them it was just a conspiracy to defraud someone of his money,” said the area MCA James Kibira. The Karatina OCPD said Ms Njeri and her boyfriend would be arraigned in court to be charged with extortion and misuse of communication gadgets among other charges. He noted that the incident had cost the government a lot of time. He warned that anyone who would make a similar false claim that could cause panic or engage the authorities in futility would be punished harshly. The incident comes in the wake of a worrying series of kidnappings that have prompted the government to constitute a special police unit to deal with kidnapping. The latest victim is an Assistant Chief from Solio Settlement Scheme in Nyeri who was kidnapped on Wednesday last week with her abductors demanding a Sh2 million ransom.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 11:55:34 +0000
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