Tragic Discipline: Sisters Sentenced to 10 Years Over Daughter’s Death

The High Court in Kibera has sentenced two sisters to ten years in prison for the manslaughter of a 20-year-old woman who died after being assaulted at her family home.

Mary Njeri, 42, and her sister Lilian Muhiaki, 40, admitted responsibility for the death of Njeri’s daughter, Beatrice Wangui, after entering into a plea agreement with the prosecution. The pair were initially charged with murder, but the charge was reduced to manslaughter following their guilty pleas.

Wangui, who was the mother of a two-year-old boy, had been living with her family in Kabiria, Dagoretti. According to court records, she left the family home on Christmas Eve 2024 after a dispute. She returned briefly the following day to collect her child, telling relatives she intended to take him to his father. When she did not return, tensions within the household escalated

On 28 December, Muhiaki contacted Wangui and falsely claimed that her mother had been injured in an accident. The court found that the claim was made to lure her back to the house. Once inside, Wangui was locked in and assaulted over an extended period by her mother, aunt, brother and another relative. Witnesses told the court they heard her pleading for the beating to stop.

During the assault, Wangui’s younger sister was threatened and warned that she would face the same treatment if she followed a similar path. Neighbours later intervened and rushed Wangui to Mutuini Level Four Hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival. A post-mortem examination established that she died from blunt force trauma to the head.

In mitigation, defence lawyers argued that the women had not intended to kill Wangui and described the violence as an attempt at discipline that went too far. Njeri’s lawyer cited her remorse, treatment for depression and responsibility for her remaining children, and asked the court to consider a non-custodial sentence. Muhiaki’s counsel said she was a first-time offender who acted under pressure from others.

Prosecutors opposed leniency, arguing that Wangui had been deliberately deceived, unlawfully confined and denied timely medical care. They said the conduct went beyond any lawful form of parental discipline and resulted in the loss of life, leaving a young child without a mother.

In its ruling, the court acknowledged the absence of premeditation and took into account the guilty pleas and expressions of remorse. However, the judge emphasised that the seriousness of the violence required a custodial sentence. The court said it was necessary to affirm the value of human life and deter similar conduct within families.

Probation reports submitted to the court cited poor parenting practices and strong community opposition to a non-custodial sentence. Although the offence carried a possible life sentence, the court imposed ten years’ imprisonment on each defendant, effective from the date of their arrest, noting the reduced charge and the plea agreement.

The judge directed that the sentence should include access to counselling and anger management programmes during incarceration.