Convicted Killer Ruth Kamande recalled the moment that changed her life in September 2015 when she stabbed her boyfriend Farid Mohammed.
Kamande said she had been in a relationship with Farid for several years, and that in September 2015 she and Farid had fought over his HIV status. According to Kamande, he had deliberately tried to infect her with HIV. The fight turned violent and Kamande stabbed Farid 25 times, killing him on the spot.
“I had blood everywhere. I saw an officer pointing a gun at me. I managed to reach for the keys and door, and was then escorted to the police van. At the Hospital, I told the nurses to rescue my boyfriend and they assured me he was receiving treatment At the Metropolitan Hospital. However, on my way to KNH I learnt that Farid was dead when as I sawhis body was right there in front of me. I shouted and screamed but the police officers were too harsh and threatened to beat me up,” she told an enthralled court.
Though she claimed the act was of self defence, Justice Jessie Lesiit concluded that Ms Kamande enjoyed stabbing her boyfriend 25 times and was not sorry , even in court.
” The court considered how the murder was executed. The accused did not stab the deceased in quick succession. She stabbed the deceased one stab at a time. It was as if she was sampling with pleasure each and every stab she inflicted on him. And those who witnessed the accused actions told the court that they were traumatized over the act for some time,” Justice Lesiit told the court.
Kamande, however told the court that Farid tried to kill her after she discovered he was HIV-positive. “Farid told me that he would rather kill me and himself than have his status exposed. l stabbed him severally using a kitchen knife, which fell on my chest from his hands after I overpowered him after putting my two thumbs in his eyes to save my life,” she recalled.
Begging for leniency, Lawyer Joynor Okonjo listed some of Ruth’s achievements: acquiring of five certificates, participating in modelling, dancing, poetry and scriptwriting while in prison as signs that she had reformed. She was crowned Miss Langata beauty in 2016.
Justice Lesiit would however hear none of it and sentenced her to death saying “I want young people to know that it is not cool to kill your boyfriend when frustrated. Instead, it is cool to walk away and forgive. The only deserving sentence is death.”