16-yr-old girl’s mysterious death months after fleeing school, blocking her mum’s contact

By Lazarus Maitha

Investigations into the death of a 16-year-old girl from Mombasa -- who lost her life under mysterious circumstances four months after fleeing school -- have begun.

Rosalia Muchai, a Form Two student at Jomvu Girls’ Secondary School, went missing from the institution on August 2, 2019.

Rosalia’s parent, Rehema Gati Juma, told K24 Digital that her child died on Wednesday, December 18, under unclear circumstances shortly after complaining of a severe stomach pain.

Gati said after her daughter was reported missing from school, she filed a missing person’s report at Jomvu Police Station under the OB number 13/02/08/19.

Police tracked Rosalia using her smartphone, and the first attempt on August 2 indicated that she was in Jomvu-Alidina area.

Two days later, the phone signals showed that Rosalia had moved to Changamwe.

Much later, her phone signals suggested she had “permanently” relocated to Timbwani area in Likoni, where she stayed until her death.

“When police were tracking her down, I called her on phone, but she declined to receive the calls. She, thereafter, blocked my contact and those of her other relatives,” said the teenager’s mother, Gati.

On Wednesday, Joan Jelimo Kuto, a resident of Timbwani in Likoni, filed a report at Likoni Police Station, saying Rosalia, her neighbour, called her the day before and said she was in pain, and needed to be taken to hospital urgently.

Jelimo, who is a hairdresser at Mtaa wa Mbuzi, said when she arrived at the house that Rosalia was putting up in, she found her clutching her stomach, suggesting she was in extreme pain. Jelimo said she immediately took her to the neighbouring Stella Maris Hospital.

Rosalia was transferred to Likoni Sub-County Hospital at midnight, but was pronounced dead upon arrival. Jelimo filed the report at 5pm Wednesday under the OB number 44/18/12/2019. She, however, did not disclose who Rosalia was staying with.

It remains unclear what Rosalia was ailing from, with a postmortem yet to be conducted to establish the exact cause of her death.

Her body was taken to the Coast Provincial General Hospital morgue. Rosalia’s mother has pleaded with well-wishers to help her raise Ksh14, 000 that is “needed for her daughter’s autopsy”.