Women members of Parliament, state actors and interested parties are holding the #HerLifeMatters vigil at the University of Nairobi following a recent upsurge in femicide.
The vigil is said to enjoin several state actors drawn from the Judiciary, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
Reports indicate that at least 50 women were killed on account of their gender, through the government disputes this figure.
In the month 0f April alone, seven women were killed in Busia County, making Western Kenya rank highest in femicide cases.
A section of female leaders are calling for an end to gender based violence through a campaign dubbed, her life
matters. The campaign comes against the background of numerous killings that have been widely reported by the media.#KTNPrime pic.twitter.com/Y4EEKAbpX0— ktn (@KTNKenya) May 28, 2019
In April, a final year medical student was killed by her alleged boyfriend after the student attempted to resist his advances.
Ivy Wangeci was hacked to death after which irate bodaboda operators near Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital tried to lynch the man behind the killing before he was rescued by police.
@gladyswanga : Since when did it occur that if a girl says no to you, you kill her ?
#EndFemicideNow#KTNNewsCentre @Michellengele pic.twitter.com/Tg2g8ECkGO
— ktn (@KTNKenya) May 28, 2019
He- Naftali Kinuthia, has since denied the murder charges pressed against him. He has been detained even as the detectives continue to process evidence placing him at the scene of the murder.
One week ago, a Muranga GK Prison warder was found murdered in her house after his boyfriend strangled him before grabbing a kitchen knife and stabbing her dead.
We weep in solidarity with our sisters, mothers and daughters who have been killed.
Join us for #HerLifeMatters vigil @uonbi grounds today from 4pm.
Dress Code: White with a touch of pink#EndFemicideNow#NotYetMadaraka pic.twitter.com/BO8JPJoKHY
— CREAW Kenya (@CREAWKenya) May 30, 2019
The suspect was arrested two days later after attempting to escape to Kisumu.
His case, however, got more complicated when he attempted to commit suicide when police officers went to conduct a search in his mother’s Buruburu Estate house.
The cases have been on the rise, with physicians pointing towards depression as a major cause for the homicides.