The news of the gruesome murder of one Ivy Wangeci has hit social media by storm.
The medical student whose promising life was brutally ended on Tuesday, was killed by a man described by her friends as a former schoolmate who was obsessed with her.
The sixth-year medical student at Moi University School of Medicine started the day in high spirits as usual, speaking freely and sharing jokes with some of her patients as she did her routine rounds at Nyayo General Ward at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret, where she was doing her final set of practical exams before her graduation later this year.
As she did the rounds, she was oblivious of what Mr Naftali Njahi Kinuthia was planning.
The 28-year-old, who like Ms Wangechi hailed from Thika, was monitoring her movements. He had earlier arrived at the hospital and parked his car close to the Accident and Emergency wing.
After hacking Wangechi with the axe, the suspect then ran towards the school of dentistry, with the public in hot pursuit. They eventually caught up with him, beating him up before the police intervened.
Whereas details of the motive are scanty, a student close to Ms Wangechi said she on many occasions confided in him about the man who had been stalking her for a year.
“Wangechi showed us the messages he had been sending to her expressing his love. She told us they were schoolmates in primary school but had lost touch until last year, when they met on Facebook,” the friend said on Tuesday.
Kinuthia, from his hospital bed where he lies cozy, claimed he had invested money and emotions in the woman, but his love and financial kindness wasn’t reciprocated as per his expectations.
“The accused said he used to send the woman some money. He said he sent her some money to arrange the event. Since then, the woman refused to pick his calls, said the suspect. That is what prompted him to travel [from Thika] to Eldoret. He said he wanted to know why she was ignoring him,” Eldoret East DCI boss Mr Kingi reported in an exclusive interview Wednesday.
“When he [Kinuthia] arrived in Eldoret [Monday], the woman continued to decline to pick his calls. He said it got to a point where she switched off her phone. According to him, that angered him prompting him to look for an axe and kill the girl. We are still waiting for him to give more details after he is discharged from hospital,” said Mr Kingi.
The character portrayed by media and the attacker’s confession from hospital highlight the typical characteristics of a stalker down to Ivy’s last breathing moments.
A stalker is someone who is obsessed with the victim and involved in an unwanted pursuit.
People who stalk can be very dangerous. Stalkers can threaten, attack, sexually assault, or even kill their victims as was in Ivy’s unfortunate occurrence.
Unfortunately, there is no single psychological or behavioral profile that can predict what stalkers will do. Stalkers’ behaviors can escalate from more indirect ways of making contact (i.e. like phone calls or texts) to more direct contact (i.e.delivering gifts or showing up where you are at).
There are basically four kinds of stalkers:
- There’s the public figure stalker, who has not had any prior relationship with their victim.
- There’s the private stranger stalker who crosses paths with a victim in some way and then that person becomes a target.
- There’s the acquaintance stalker, who pursues maybe a co-worker or classmate or someone else in their life. They have about a 50 percent risk of violence.
- The fourth category of stalker are described as intimate stalkers, and these are the most common and the most dangerous. The risk of violence from an intimate stalker is about 74 percent. Violence could be anything from pushing and shoving to a more violent assault. Many domestic violence homicides have a stalking component.
Many victims struggle with how to respond to their stalkers. Some victims try reasoning with their stalkers to placate them, hoping that “being nice” will make stalkers stop their behavior.
Many victims minimize their experiences of being stalked, telling themselves “it’s not that bad.” Still others may confront or threaten the stalker or try to “fight back.”
While victims cannot control the stalking behavior, they should feel empowered to take steps to keep themselves, their families, and their loved ones safe.
Ignoring a stalker can be dangerous!
Experts say a common reaction to stalking behaviors can be for the victim to ignore the stalker’s menacing behavior and hope they go away. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work with stalkers who are already violating the boundaries of normal behavior and making their targets feel unsafe. While you should NOT engage with your stalker directly, the following is recommended:
- be alert and proactive to protect yourself from the possible threat.
- avoid all contact
- enhance security measures in their lives, such as locks, alarms and security cameras, and says victims should
- inform key people in their life of the potential threat.
- save and document all messages, voicemails, letters, and cards.
- photograph and document things that are damaged and quickly get that information to law enforcement so that police can begin to intervene in the process.
Early intervention is key. Stalking is a crime and should be treated that way.
- Trust your instincts. Victims of stalking often feel pressured by friends or family to downplay the stalker’s behavior, but stalking poses a real threat of harm. Your safety is paramount.
- Call the police if you feel you are in any immediate danger. Explain why the stalker’s actions are causing you fear.
- Keep a record or log of each contact with the stalker. Be sure to also document any police reports.
- Stalkers often use technology to contact their victims. Save all emails, text messages, photos, and postings on social networking sites as evidence of the stalking behavior.
- You may also want to consider how to use your technology and your devices in a safer manner.
Hopefully this article helps a lady out there in a similar predicament and saves a life. RIP Ivy, gone too soon.