The change of status from wife to widow is a painful experience, more so when that happens a month after your union.
Felister Tikane knows this all too well, having lost her husband just a month after they moved in together.
Tikane Kasale was among eight police officers who were killed by suspected Al Shabaab militants in December, after an attack on a bus in Wajir County.
“He had just left home the previous day after staying with the family for a while only for the incident to happen,” she narrated.
Tikane said that when she first heard of the incident, she did not know that her husband was among those on the ill-fated bus.
She explained how she learnt of his demise through social media when a list of the police officers who were killed in the incident started making rounds on Facebook.
“The death really affected me and I did not know what I could do, it was just one month after we had moved in together when this happened and we were yet to get a baby,” she said, adding that they had lots of goals that now remain a pipe dream.
Tikane narrated that the pain worsened after her husband was buried and mourners left her home.
She now stays with her mother-in-law, who is equally stressed about the tragedy.
Being a widow at her young age is not something she imagined her life could become, but it is now a reality that has sunk; she has to cope without the love of her life.
“As a family, we were not even counseled after what we went through, everyone who matters has forgotten and it seems that we have no option as a family but go on with life,” she added.
According to her, the late was the breadwinner of the family.
She describes her husband as a hardworking man who loved his country and never complained even when he was sent to work in the vast North-Eastern region.
The fact that he loved his family is evident on his Facebook account, where he used to share photos of his wife and confess how much he loved her.
“As a family, we are now trying to see whether the government will give us any compensation,” she concluded.
