24-year-old Veronica Muthei Mutunga who was set ablaze by her husband in their home in Katothya village, Masinga Sub-County, Machakos has opened up about the experience.
Mutunga told journalists that she never expected her husband to turn violent.
The mother of two narrated how her husband came home from the city without notifying her, before picking a fight with her.
"He began quarrelling me and the kids got afraid. Normally when they hear their father quarrelling they go to their bedroom so they went to their bedroom," she said.
She said that she went outside to avoid a confrontation but the husband followed her and brought her back to the house.
"I slept with the kids because he had locked the bedroom door and on Sunday morning I prepared the kids to go to church and I sent them to get their clothes from my bedroom," she noted.
Her husband opened the door and the children took their clothes, finished preparing and went to church.
On noting that her husband seemed to be in a better mood, she went inside the room to get her clothes so that she could also go to church.
That's when he locked her in the bedroom and started beating her.
"After beating me using sisal that's when he poured petrol on me and lit a match stick. I immediately removed my clothes to avoid further burns," said Mutunga who sustained burns on her face, hands chest and abdomen.
She recalls that she ran to her mother-in-law to inform her of the incident and later took a bodaboda to the hospital.
"I took some clothes to cover my self and ran out screaming after he let me out. I took a bodaboda and headed to the hospital," she said.
She said she doesn't understand why the husband was so angry, adding that he must have lost interest in her if he could go to the extent of setting her ablaze.
Dr Winnie Mucheru who works at the Masinga Level Three Hospital told journalists on Wednesday that Mutunga had sustained first degree superficial burns.
"On 24th we received the patient who had burns on her face, neck, hands, stomach, chest and breasts," said Dr Mucheru.
She said that Mutunga had revealed that her husband was the one who helped her put out the fire by pouring water on her.
"She said that her husband poured water on her and gave her two jugs of water to drink. He had poured petrol on her abdominal area and she got burned in the other areas as she tried removing her clothes," she said.
The doctor said Mutunga is in stable condition and can now do a lot of things on her own.
"She suffered 12 per cent burns and we gave her antibiotics and cleaned her wounds. She is stable and can walk and feed herself without help," she said.
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