Miss Lang’ata Prison 2016 beauty pageant winner Ruth Kamande has been sentenced to death for the murder of her boyfriend. Ms. Kamande was found guilty of stabbing her boyfriend Farid Mohammed 22 times in 2015 . In convicting her, High Court judge Jessie Lesiit noted that her actions proved malice, therefore, convicted her for murder.
Ms. Kamande, who came to the limelight last September for allegedly stabbing her lover 22 times, was crowned the most beautiful woman at the Langata Women’s Prison on Wednesday. Her dashing beauty awed the judges leaving them with no doubt but to crown her the beauty queen.
The then 21-year-old wowed image consultant Robert Burale with her stunning beauty as well as her ability to sing. In the professional wear category, she stepped out as a singer while the other contestants chose more conventional careers. Tina Martin, a Tanzanian facing drug smuggling charges, was the first runners-up. Susan Wairimu who is facing robbery with violence, was third.
But Ruth regrets her action which has led to her incarceration at the remand prison for one year now. Ruth’s fragile hands and likable demeanor contrast with her moment of madness that led to the stabbing of her beloved boyfriend Farid Ahmed in Buru Buru estate on September 20, 2015.
It was said in court that she stabbed Farid, 23, after finding lewd text messages from a secret lover. Ruth, 24, allegedly also sustained stab wounds on her stomach, right thigh and left hand during the fight. Ruth says if she could take back the hand of time, she would not commit the crime.
“There is always a better way to resolve issues than getting to the extreme,” she said regretfully a few hours before being crowned Miss Langata Prison 2016. Ruth, also known as ‘Biggy’, was crowned after trouncing 19 contestants. The trained beautician, then serving her twelfth month as a remandee, stunned contest judges with her elegance, flawless moves, confidence and her short, firm strides, to win the competition.
The Miss Lang’ata Prison 2016 beauty pageant was found guilty of killing her boyfriend Farid Mohammed in 2015. The High Court in May convicted Ms. Kamande saying that the prosecution has proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, adding that she had malice afterthought. High Court judge Jessie Lesiit was set to sentence Ms. Kamande on July 11, 2018, but he delayed his verdict by one week.
“Stabs were not at ago, they were done in intervals. This is clear from the prosecution evidence,” Lesiit said.
The court ruled that Kamande’s actions proved malice and therefore convicted her for murder. On allegations of rape, the court said that doctors carried out examinations and found that she had not been raped as she had alleged.
Kamande, who has been in remand since 2015, had argued that things escalated after she discovered a hospital card that suggested that Mohammed was undergoing HIV treatment. When she confronted her boyfriend about it, she claimed, he threatened her saying they would both rather die than have his HIV status known to the public.
The argument according to the beauty pageant, further escalated when she discovered letters from two other women. The accused claims she stabbed her boyfriend with a kitchen knife after it fell on her as they were struggling on the ground. According to a doctor who testified in the case , Mohammed had 25 stabs.
Ms Kamande’s advocate had urged the court to hand her a lenient jail sentence arguing that she had “established a close relationship with God” since being taken into custody in 2015. The advocate told the court that Ms. Kamande had converted to Islam and had since become religious and prays five times a day. The court further heard that the accused had enrolled to study theology education at the prison, an indication that her stay in custody had streamlined her.