Geoffrey Njoroge Matheri alias ‘Naivasha vampire’ (left) has a word with Iregi Mwenja who is the founder Psychiatric Disability Organization outside Nakuru Law courts. [Photo/Pristone Mambili]
Geoffrey Njoroge Matheri alias ‘Naivasha vampire’ has known prison as his home for over 8 years since he was charged with kidnapping women.
In the year 2008, his story hit headlines with claims that he had been kidnapping, raping, drugging, draining and drinking blood from his victims, most of them being women.
However after many struggles in and out of remand, the ‘Naivasha vampire’ is now a free man after he was acquitted by a Nakuru High Court over lack of evidence of the alleged crimes.
When we meet him in Nakuru, Mr.Matheri has a different story-that of a reformed young man who says prison has transformed him through counseling sessions.
While expressing his worry on how the society views him, Matheri categorically states that the court found no evidence to convict him and therefore he is a free man but also a reformed Christian after many years in remand.
He calls on society to change the attitude towards him and rather embrace and accommodate him back.
“I thank God that I am now free and I am now a born again. Whatever happened will not happen again because I believe my God will continue to guide me as I preach his gospel. My prayer is that the society should not have a negative attitude towards me” said Matheri.
In a separate interview, Iregi Mwenja who is the founder Psychiatric Disability Organization based in Nakuru and has been involved in providing psychosocial support to people in prison says mental illness can land one in prison without individual’s knowledge.
He is however quick to note that the government and the society at large should not try to criminalize an individual due to what he or she said while in the mental disorder state.
“The reason we do psychosocial support for people in prison is that cases like that of Matheri end up in prison not because they had done any crime but because he had a mental illness and the society has to start understanding from that angle,” said Iregi.
Mr. Matheri indeed is a free man and has embraced Christianity since he was put behind bars more than 5 years ago.
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