Grief, horror after MMU student Sylvia Kemunto is murdered in hostel

Her concern quickly turned into panic. She contacted university security, who informed her that he was on leave but would ask his assistant to go and check Sylvia’s room. The findings were disturbing.

“The room was in disarray. Clothes were scattered everywhere, water was left in a basin like she had been interrupted while doing laundry,” said Kwamboka.

Kwamboka said that what was more troubling was that Sylvia's suitcase was missing, yet her clothes were in the room.

Her roommate, who had just returned from church, confirmed that Sylvia was not there and the state of the room was unlike her.

Sylvia, a 19-year-old first-year student at Multimedia University, had been pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Computer Science.

A bright student with a promising future, she had scored 425 marks in KCPE and an A- in KCSE.

Initially, her mother said she had been placed to study Dental Surgery at the University of Nairobi, but she opted for a more affordable course due to financial constraints.

"She told me, ‘Mum, I will study and change your life.’ I am a single mother, a mama mboga. All her dreams are now gone,” Kwamboka said, struggling to come to terms with the sudden demise of her firstborn child.

By Monday, panic had turned into fear. Trizzah travelled from their home in Kawangware, Nairobi, to the university.

She found no sign of her daughter, only the same disorder in the room. The administration assured her that Sylvia might have gone out with friends. But something felt wrong.

That same day, a student named Eric Mutinda was summoned by security. He was seen with the missing suitcase that belonged to Sylvia. When questioned, he claimed Sylvia had lent it to him after his got broken.

On Tuesday, with still no sign of Sylvia, a missing person report was filed at Lang’ata Police Station. The police accompanied her mother to the university.

Investigations began, and after grilling Mutinda, he said that the last time he saw Sylvia was Sunday at noon, and she appeared “visibly stressed.”

When asked to call his friends for questioning, Mutinda excused himself to make a phone call and vanished.

When the investigations to unravel the disappearance of Sylvia had intensified, it became clear that Mutinda, a fellow first-year student pursuing Electrical Engineering, had been closely associated with Sylvia.

“She told me before that a boy was disturbing her. He wanted a relationship, but she refused. He once took her phone and iron box. I intervened and reported it to the university,” said Kwamboka.

That Sunday, Sylvia’s roommate had gone to church. Investigators believe it was then that Mutinda entered her room.

Eyewitnesses later reported seeing him struggle with a suitcase, allegedly that which belonged to Sylvia, which he carried from Block B to his own room in Block E.

His roommate would later tell detectives that Mutinda spent the night with the suitcase, using it as a pillow.

“It was uncomfortable. He placed it beside him. By morning when I woke up, he was gone with the suitcase,” said one of the roommates.

For three days, the whereabouts of Sylvia remained a mystery. Then, on Wednesday evening, a foul odour led the security to the rooftop of Block E.

Inside a sealed water tank, weighted down with a heavy stone and wire, they made a gruesome discovery; the decomposing body of Sylvia Kemunto.

The Multimedia university community was stunned. A bright young woman, brutally murdered within the university; her body hidden in a place meant to provide water to students.

Mutinda was a primary suspect. He had vanished on Tuesday but resurfaced on Friday morning at Sultan Hamud Police Station, escorted by his parents after what sources describe as intense questioning from the parents.

He is now in custody at Nairobi area police headquarters and is expected to be arraigned on Monday.

Detectives have collected key evidence, including clothing and bedding from both Sylvia and Mutinda’s rooms for forensic testing.

Preparations for Sylvia’s burial are underway, but for her mother, no funeral can bury the pain or the questions.

“How could this happen in a place she was supposed to be safe? Was there no CCTV in the school hostels? I want justice for my daughter. I am heartbroken. My daughter was innocent and very disciplined. She did not deserve to die that young,” said Kwamboka.