Wayne Lumbasi
A Kenyan-born Bahrain athlete was found dead in Kenya on Tuesday. Damaris Muthee Mutua’s body was discovered in the world-famous running hub of Iten in western Kenya and police said they have launched a manhunt for her Ethiopian boyfriend who police identified as Ethiopian runner Koki Fai.
Authorities said Muthee, who trains in Iten, had visited the suspect on Saturday. Her decomposing body was discovered lying on the Ethiopian national’s bed at 3pm on Tuesday after the suspect called a neighbor and reported that he had killed his girlfriend.
Damaris competed for Kenya as a junior athlete and won two bronze medals at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore and the East African junior athletics championships in Khartoum, before switching her allegiance to Bahrain.
Her death echoes the killing of Olympic runner and two-time world championship bronze medalist Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death at her home in the same town of Iten in October.
Tirop’s partner was arrested and charged with murder. Her death prompted many in Kenya’s running communities to speak out and hold protests against what they say is a deep-rooted problem of domestic violence against female athletes in Kenya.
