Kenyan-born athlete found murdered in Iten-police says

A Kenyan-born Bahraini athlete has been found dead in Iten, allegedly murdered by her Ethiopian boyfriend who has reportedly fled the country after the incident, police said on Tuesday.

Damaris Muthee Mutua’s murder follows the killing of another athlete in Kenya, Olympic runner Agnes Tirop, who was found stabbed to death at her home in the same town in October.

Damaris Muthee Mutua, the Kenyan born Bahrain athlete in her last race in Angola, she came 2nd in the 10km race. Her Ethiopian boyfriend Koki Foi(also an athlete) murdered her on Sunday at her rented house in Lily’s Estate, Iten town.

This is quite unfortunate. pic.twitter.com/7NgqZ4hGuf

— SokoAnalyst (@SokoAnalyst) April 19, 2022

The body of Mutua, 28, who holds dual Kenyan-Bahraini nationality, was found decomposing in a house in Iten, Tom Makori, the town’s police commander, said.

Iten, where both murders occurred, has a popular training base for long distance runners. The two murders have shone a spotlight on violence against women in the east African country.

“The body has been taken to a nearby hospital mortuary,” Makori said.

Police was looking for Mutua’s boyfriend, Eskinder Hailemaryam Folie, who had allegedly confessed to the killing, he said. He had been training at the same facility and has since fled Kenya, according to police.

“The suspect called a friend whom they were training together and informed him that he has killed a girlfriend and the body was in the house,” Makori said.

She won two bronze medals at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore and the East African Junior Athletics Championships, a track and field competition in Khartoum, before she became a Bahraini national.

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