Cases of women killing or being involved in their husband's cold blood murders have been on the surge especially in Mt Kenya region.
Four months ago, Alice Mugechi was charged at a Muranga court after police suspected her of being involved in the murder of her husband at their home.
The husband, Samuel Mbogo, was Gatunguru Secondary School principal by the time he was killed.
It is, however, good to note that mariticide (the murder of a husband) cases are much lower than those that involve the killing of one's wife (uxoricide).
Wikipedia documents that of the 2340 deaths that took place at the hands of intimate partners in America in 2007, female victims made up a staggering 70 per cent.
We can, however, not ignore the 30 per cent of men in this case similar to Kenya's, where three of every 10 victims of spousal violence were men.
So, why would a wife kill her husband, the father to her kids and most of all her lifetime companion and partner?
Well, according to Francis Chege, a Thika-based counsellor and psychologist, there are many motives behind a woman's decision to 'eliminate' her husband.
1. Marital property: A woman can kill or aid in the killing of her husband if the couple has a valuable property or properties that both of them are contesting.
"If you follow carefully mariticide cases in some parts of Kenya, you will find out that the couple in question are mostly well-off financially.
"They are usually cases of where a couple has for example invested together equally, but the man wants to take the lion's share or even everything. That doesn't augur well with some women who can't just stand by as the husband enjoys the fruits alone of that which they invested together," Chege told this writer on Tuesday via a phone interview.
2. Perpetual marital violence: Chege also notes that women who have gone through marital violence for a long time, also tend to become violent.
He adds that there comes a time when such a woman decides that 'enough is enough' and, therefore, can't take it more with the ultimate result being the killing of the violent husband.
3. Jealousy: Finally, Chege indicates that there are mariticide cases that result from the wife being 'overly protective' of her husband.
"In this case, the woman becomes very jealous and would not even want to see her husband flirting with other women. In the fortunate or unfortunate event that this overly protective wive finds out that the husband is a womanizer, the consequences could be fatal," the counsellor who is also a youth's mentor says.
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