Kenya: Shock And Outrage Over Killer Rapist

Source from:  The Nation (Nairobi) 20 August 2008 08/22/2008

More shocking revelations are emerging about a serial killer in Naivasha who drank human blood from his female victims. The possibility that he had raped, tortured and killed half a dozen women left residents even more scared. The man was known by residents as Foko, and to his street accomplices as Khalif. He also butchered the victims and removed their organs. He then buried the bodies in shallow graves. One was found in his own house. Fresh evidence Police raided the dwelling of the suspected killer in Kihoto on Wednesday and flattened the house he lived in as well as the adjacent ones. They also used earth movers to dig deep into the ground in search of remains of his alleged victims. The excavation did not yield fresh evidence. Naivasha deputy police commander Paul Kisang told the Nation that investigations would be widened because they suspect the man was also linked to a cult movement. Detectives said the man confessed that he drank human blood but said he sold the body parts to members of a religious cult which he declined to name. The woman's body found on Tuesday had the tongue and breasts missing while the eyes were gouged out. The man who was arrested by police last Saturday and his criminal ways traced to seven years ago. Two women rescued from his captivity were admitted to the Nairobi Women's hospital. Several kilometres away at Kabati estate, the Nation traced 22-year-old Mercy Wangui who escaped the vampire's den after five days of torment. She was seized on August 3 during which the man slit her veins and drank her blood as she watched. "He began by ordering me to strip naked then thrashed me using a rubber whip. I became weak and collapsed on the floor. He cut a vein on my fore head and drained the blood into a cup," she said. Ms Wangui, a mother of two, also said her captor did not sleep a wink for the five days. "He swallowed some red pills which he also forced me to take apparently to stay awake," added Ms Wangui. "Any time I got drowsy, he beat me up and forced me to swallow another dose," she added. In the house, was a small radio powered by three dry cells. "He forced me to dance to the music while half naked. He would dance first and force me to mimic his style," said Ms Wangui. Ms Wangui had managed to escape on the sixth day when the man left the house "to go and buy tobacco and cigarettes." She jumped out through small opening on the mud-walled house, half naked, and was rescued by good Samaritans after she collapsed less than a kilometre away. "Though I was very weak, I had struggled to get free because he had sharpened the knife the previous night. When he left, he told me he would cut my neck and start hunting for another woman. I couldn't wait," she said. Two days before, her captor had suspending her from the rafters by the neck using a rope. "I almost died but he cut the rope," said Ms Wangui. "However, he never raped me but on two occasions threatened me with sodomy. He never did it," she told the Nation. Besides the mug, and a flask he used for storing blood, there was no utensils in the house. The single room he lived in also had a bed, a coffee table and an armchair. Women's clothes Police found dozens of women's clothes hung on the rafters alongside his. Unlike the street gangs he commanded, residents said he was well dressed. "He used to walk around the town wearing long coats most of the time. He had a black coat, a green one and a beige one which he interchanged regularly in a week," according to a resident who requested anonymity. Word was rife in the town that rats were his favourite delicacy. Residents also describe the suspect as an introvert. His only company was with members of street families within the town. Enditem