Kenya: Serial Rapist Stalked Victims Before Ambushing Them

Source from:  The Nation (Nairobi) 22 August 2008 08/25/2008

Details are now emerging of how a serial rapist stalked his victims before ambushing them and taking them to his hideout. The man known as "Foko", or "Khalif" to his accomplices, kept vigil at the busy matatu terminus where he would identify lone women whom he trailed and waylaid. A victim told the Nation how she was accosted at the Karagita matatu terminus and threatened with a knife by the former street boy. She had gone to look for her sister who was working near the busy stage. "He accosted me at the matatu terminus claiming I had squandered his money," said the mother of three. Weird ways When she pleaded her innocence, the man drew out a kitchen knife and threatened to stab her for refusing to comply with his orders. "Only a few guards at a nearby premise noticed the man seizing me but claimed they were accustomed to his weird ways," she said. The man made the impression that they were solving their marital differences, hence attracting little attention from the public. For six days, the woman watched as Foko drew blood from her veins and put it into a flask from which he sipped at intervals. "While he held me hostage, he never left the house and used to sniff processed tobacco, drug himself and drink blood," said the woman. He drew most of the blood from her back and forehead and put it in a cup before transferring it to the flask. The victim was later taken to Nairobi Women's Hospital for specialised treatment. The man's second victim was accosted at the crowded County Council Estate as she ran errands for her family at around 7pm. "I was rushing to a nearby kiosk to buy milk but was attacked by a man brandishing a knife," said the 25-year-old house wife. She was warned against screaming if she wanted to survive. His third victim narrated how she alighted at a matatu terminus in the area and sought directions to her sister's home located in Kasarani, North Lake area in Naivasha. "As I pondered my next move, the man appeared and asked me where I was headed," she said. Before she could answer, the man drew a knife and ordered her to follow him without uttering a word. Shaken, the 13-year-old quietly followed the menacing man for a few metres before she was hoisted onto his shoulder. "He carried me shoulder-high up to his house where I met the other woman," said the teenager. According to his peers, the man was a loner and would accost his victims alone. Only on one occasion did he seek assistance from other street urchins. Several tablets On the same case, police have recovered several tablets which they believe were used to drug victims of the suspected killer and rapist. "We have taken them to the chemist for analysis and they are said to induce prolonged sleep," said a source at the police station. The police recovered other paraphernalia including a cup, a plastic bottle and a knife from the suspect's house. A cleric who was arrested after he was implicated in suspected cultism was being interrogated. Enditem