People talk about them in hushed tones because they are believed to be cursed. Almost every community in Africa has its fair share of these women known as femme fatales.
There are different definitions of these women most of them describing them as sexual vampires and men killers. In the Kikuyu community, for instance, they are referred to as 'atumia a ciero ndune' directly translated into 'women of the red thigh'.
They are said to be a breed of women carrying a curse or an evil spirit and any man who gets into an affair with them is bound to die, either due to an ailment or accident.
According to Allan Kamau Kibe, an elder in the Kikuyu community, these women cannot be simply identified by looking at them.
He, however, says they are extremely beautiful and charming, the reason they are so attractive to men. He says in the Kikuyu community where people used to associate themselves with clans, it was easy to identify the femme fatales and a man would be warned against associating with women from that particular clan.
For instance, some women from Ethaga clan, in Murang’a county, are believed to be femme fatales and the locals refer to them as Gitune – Kikuyu word for a red spot. Kibe says the woman might not be aware of her condition until several men she marries die in unclear circumstances.
In Kiriaini market in Mathioya, there was such a woman who the locals had marked as a sexual vampire. It is alleged she had the infamous ‘red thigh’ and is rumored to have ‘killed’ several men she had affairs with. One of the locals who sought anonymity said the woman was stunningly beautiful and men would chase after her, especially at night and most of them died mysteriously.
In most cases, Kibe says a woman with the red thigh would ‘kill’ at least four men and only the fifth one would survive. The red spot, he claims symbolize danger and it was a taboo for a man to marry such woman as their clan is cursed and any union with them leads to no good.
They exist in a family that carries the curse, from generation to generation. He claims that husbands to these women die, one after the other, after co-habiting with them for a short period.
“They are termed as charming beauties, romantic and men are always attracted to them, unfortunately, one cannot know if she has a red thigh just by the looks,” he says.
Kibe claims that women eventually lived isolated lives, with many people avoiding them after stories of their dead husbands got around the villages. Interestingly, this form of the spiritual disease affects even men. He says the victims are stunningly handsome and they attract women.
Similarly, women who cohabit with these men would also die under unclear circumstances. These men too would lose at least four wives and the fifth one would survive. The elder says during intercourse, the partner with the red spot would drain energy from the other making him/her weak and this probably sparks the strange ailments, which eventually lead to death.
Surprisingly he says these people actually have a red spot in the inner thighs or their private parts, thus the name. Kibe, however, says it is not clear where this phenomenon emanated from; it still remains a mystery to many people up to date.
“No one has ever unraveled the matter and it remains a mystery to us, but some believe it is a spirit,” he added. He, however, says witch-doctors then known as 'Andu ago' would perform some rituals to cast the spirit out of the victims.
“Such women and men would have the cleansing ritual performed upon them and the same would be extended to their children who were also feared to genetically inherit the abominable trait and are thus virtually subjected to the misfortune,” he remarked.
He claims even today such people do exist, but due to urbanization and individualized lifestyle, it is not possible to identify such traits among people.
He added that there are so many factors leading to premature deaths, thus one might not be able to put the pieces together.