Police in Nairobi are investigating the death of a 21-year-old woman who was allegedly suffocated by her boyfriend in Githurai-Sunton, Kasarani Sub-County, as former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko offered a cash reward to help track down the suspect.

The woman, identified as Feruz Hussein, is said to have been killed following a domestic dispute, Citizen Digital reported on Sunday. Her boyfriend is accused of smothering her with a pillow and then recording the act and sending the footage to members of her family.

The suspect is reported to be at large. Hamasta Media is not naming him because he has not been charged and his identity has not been confirmed by police.

Case booked at Sunton Police Station

According to documents seen by Citizen Digital, the matter was reported at Sunton Police Station in Kasarani Sub-County on September 30, 2026, and entered in the Occurrence Book. A police acknowledgement and a mortuary admission letter list the death as a suspected murder, with the case pending a postmortem examination and burial arrangements.

Hussein's body was reportedly recovered from a house in the Githurai-Sunton area. Police had not issued a public statement on the case or announced any arrest by Sunday.

Sonko's reward and warning

Sonko, who has in the past offered rewards in high-profile crime cases, said on social media that he would pay Sh50,000 to anyone who provides information leading to the suspect's arrest. “I am offering KSh 50,000 to anyone whose credible information leads to his arrest,” he wrote, according to Citizen Digital.

The former governor claimed that the suspect had recently been sighted in Kakamega County and that he had threatened the dead woman's younger siblings, aged 19 and 15. These claims have not been confirmed by police. Sonko urged members of the public not to confront the man but to report any sighting to the nearest police station.

A pattern of intimate partner killings

The case adds to a worrying run of killings of women by partners or people known to them in Kenya. Human rights groups and women's organisations have repeatedly warned of a femicide crisis, citing police data showing that hundreds of women are killed every year, many of them in domestic settings.

In January 2025, President William Ruto set up a technical working group on gender-based violence and femicide to review the response to such killings, and activists have since continued to press for faster investigations, specialised handling of domestic violence reports by police and more safe shelters for survivors. They argue that warning signs, including threats and earlier assaults, are often missed before disputes turn fatal.

The allegation that the killing was recorded and the footage sent to the victim's relatives, if confirmed, would add a particularly disturbing dimension to the case. Detectives are expected to examine the video and any phone records as part of their investigation.

Under Kenyan law, a suspect is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. Anyone with information on the case can contact Sunton Police Station, the nearest police station, or the Directorate of Criminal Investigations through its toll-free hotline, 0800 722 203.

Survivors of gender-based violence can seek free and confidential support through the national GBV helpline, 1195, which operates 24 hours a day.

Photos: A road through Githurai, Nairobi (Nairobiguy, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); a Kenya Police patrol base in Nairobi (Uluru!, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0). Illustrative composite.