Thika College Student Elizabeth Ngina Buried Without Missing Body Parts After Brutal Killing

Elizabeth Ngina Mulwa, a 21-year-old Thika Technical Training Institute student, was buried on July 11 at her family’s home in Machakos County, nearly three weeks after she was found stabbed to death inside her boyfriend’s bedsitter in Thika.

Her family held a closed-casket funeral after her head and several fingers were never recovered. Her boyfriend, Dennis Mwangi, was arrested to assist police with investigations and has not been charged.

Mourners gathered under tents around a white lace-draped coffin, three flowers resting on top. Nobody got to see Ngina’s face one last time. Her family had pushed to delay the burial until her missing body parts were recovered, but eventually went ahead without them.

What the autopsy confirmed

A post-mortem found she died from excessive blood loss caused by multiple stab wounds, over 30 according to earlier police-sourced reports. Her fingers and head were missing when her body was discovered and remain unrecovered.

“What happened is beyond human comprehension,” a family member said.

Her boyfriend’s account

Dennis Mwangi, who Ngina’s family says was her boyfriend, was arrested and has been held to assist with the investigation. He told police he had been away from the bedsitter and returned to find the door locked. After getting a spare key, he said, he found her body hidden under the bed when a basin wouldn’t push underneath it.

He has not been charged, and police have not issued a public statement naming a suspect.

Ngina’s killing has been raised alongside Kenya’s ongoing conversation about violence against women, given both the brutality of the case and the fact that she died inside her partner’s home. Her family says they’re still waiting for two things: answers, and the rest of her body.