Nyeri nurse killed by patient-turned-lover laid to rest

A senior nurse who was murdered in cold blood in Mathira, Nyeri county was buried on Friday in an emotional ceremony amid calls for tolerance among couples.

Police are still looking for Bernard Murithi, husband to the late Lydia Nyaguthii, who is the key suspect in the murder.

Speaker after speaker during the ceremony held at Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) Unjiru, called on couples to seek help from experts whenever they were facing challenges in their marriages.

Rev Joseph Ngari Miano said the country is currently facing an endemic cycle of domestic violence as the statistics of fatalities in marriages continue to pile. He asked couples to tolerate each other despite their shortcomings.

“My advice to couples is that when you are experiencing problems in your marriage, seek professional advice immediately and if it comes to the worst, I think it is not worth dying for,” Mr Miano said.

The vice chairman of the Nurses Association of Kenya, Bernard Mwega, said even as couples try to preserve their marriages, each should read the red flags and move out before the worst happens.

“The institution of marriage should be respected but when it becomes a matter of life and death one should step aside before it is too late,” he said.

The story of Ms Nyaguthii, a nurse at Tumutumu PCEA Hospital, is heart-rending. Her life is believed to have been ended by a man she nursed back to health before they fell in love.

The late Nyaguthii was found, by rescuers who were answering a distress call, lying in a pool of blood outside their matrimonial home, with about twelve wounds all on her body.