Couple’s fight over phone and ex leaves wife in court, hubby in hospital

A Kenyan woman who stabbed her husband on the chest during a fight over a mobile phone pleaded guilty to charges of causing grievous harms and claimed she acted in self-defence.

Mary Nduta Ndembu was charged with causing serious injuries to Solomon Njoroge Maingi at their home in Nairobi on July 19.

She admitted the charges before senior resident magistrate David Ndungi of Milimani law courts and claimed they were fighting and she was getting overpowered.

The complainant is still admitted at the Kenyatta National Hospital where he was rushed after the incident, with a gaping wound on his chest.

Maingi had returned home after two weeks and Ndembu complained that he had been giving her less money than what she was receiving from her previous husband.

The victim knew she had been in communication with her ex-husband on Facebook and reached out for the phone but Ndebu went for it and a fight ensued.

She is said to have gone into the kitchen where she fetched the knife and allegedly stabbed him on the chest and pushed him to the wall while holding the knife slightly below his heart.

Maingi was rescued by a neighbour who pulled out the knife from his abdomen during a tussle with his wife.

Police recovered the knife and a blood-stained nightdress from their bedroom where the fight happened.

Ndembu told Ndungi that she has a child but from her previous marriage.

Ndungi freed her on a cash bail of Sh100,000 and an alternative bond of Sh200,000 with a surety of similar amount.

The case will be mentioned on August 4 for pretrial and fixing hearing dates.