Caroline Mwatha died after succumbing to excessive bleeding following a botched abortion exercise, the family pathologist has revealed.
Addressing the media at Umash Funeral Home where the autopsy was conducted, Dr. Peter Ndegwa, confirmed that Ms Mwatha, a human rights activist, was “about 5 to 6 months pregnant with a male foetus.”
Her uterus was badly ruptured resulting to excessive bleeding, according to Dr. Ndegwa, who was representing the family.
“Unfortunately, I think somebody mistreated the foetus; it has no left upper limb, it has no brain because it has been sucked out, and there is a lot of blood in abdominal cavity. The foetus was actually in the abdominal cavity, it had come out of the uterus because the uterus had been perforated at the back and this led to bleeding,” said the doctor.
“We also found some needle puncture marks on the right cubital fossa meaning that there was some medical intervention somewhere; and we have taken some test specimen to see what kind of medicine was injected.”
The doctor also maintained that Mwatha had no any other physical injury apart from the needle marks, ruling out any attempts of struggle before her death.
Ms Mwatha whose death sparked mixed reactions from the public and family as well with family rejecting a report from the police that their daughter died after a botched abortion.
The family was quoted saying that they had never seen her daughter pregnant.
According to the Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti, the deceased died when she went for an abortion at a clinic in Dandora phase 1 in Nairobi on February 6, the very day she went missing.
On February 6, 2019, Caroline went to a clinic known as New Njiru Community Centre within Dandora Phase 1. It is believed an abortion procedure was procured by the owner of the clinic namely Betty Akinyi Nyanya alias Betty Ramoya and one purported ‘Dr’ Michael Onchiri Dr. Mike,” read the statement in part.
The DCI also reported that before her death, Ms Mwatha was in constant communication with a man alleged to be his lover and the communication was all about abortion.
At the moment, six people are in police custody including the alleged boyfriend and the quack doctor.