Detectives from Mathira West have retrieved the lifeless body of 9-year-old Shantel Waruguru Kagema from a pit latrine in Kianjathi village, following her mysterious disappearance on February 8, 2026.

On that fateful morning, Shantel’s parents left for the day around 0800hrs, leaving Shantel at home with her 4-year-old sister.

However, when they returned home at approximately 1830hrs, they were met with the devastating realisation that Shantel was nowhere to be found.

The parents wasted no time in alerting law enforcement officers, prompting an exhaustive search that unearthed disturbing clues: undergarments and shoes, discovered on an old blue mattress in an abandoned house nearby. Heartbreakingly, Shantel’s mother confirmed the items belonged to her daughter.

The scene was meticulously processed and documented by Crime Scene Investigations (CSI) officers, and the undergarments and shoes were collected and detained as exhibits.

A manhunt for the perpetrator commenced, and within no time, intelligence zeroed in on Peter Njuguna, who was arrested, and upon interrogation, led detectives to the grisly location where he’d discarded Shantel’s body in his pit latrine.

With assistance from the members of the public, detectives retrieved Shantel’s body, taking it to the mortuary for preservation and autopsy.

Preliminary investigations revealed that on the day of the tragedy, Njuguna, who lives nearby, coaxed Shantel’s younger sister by giving her Sh10 to go and buy sweets. With the sister momentarily out of the house, he remained with Shantel, where the suspect committed an unspeakable act against Shantel before callously disposing of her in his pit latrine.

Upon presenting him in court today, detectives secured a 21-day custodial order to detain the suspect to enable them conduct a comprehensive investigation.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) remains resolute in protecting the most vulnerable members of our society. This heinous crime against innocent Shantel Waruguru Kagema is not just an attack on one family, but an assault on the very fabric of our communities and our collective conscience. We stand with Shantel’s grieving family and every parent across this nation in declaring that perpetrators of such unspeakable acts against children will face the full force of the law.