John Mutinda's family has claimed that he was driven to plunge himself into the Indian Ocean at the Likoni Channel by an abusive spouse.
Speaking to Daily Nation from her home in Kyanika, Kitui County on Tuesday, December 10, Mutinda's mother - Musangi Mutinda, accused her daughter-in-law of physical and mentally tormenting her son to a point where he found no reason to live.
“My son died out of depression and despair because of the domestic violence and marital anguish he endured at home," she stated.
“It is, therefore, wrong for his wife to insinuate he had gone mad,” she added.
According to Ms Musangi, her son even bore marks of inhumane torture allegedly inflicted on him by his wife, Rose Mueni, going on to claim that he was recovering from severe burns after he was scalded with hot water back in November 2019.
“After she scalded him with hot water, she rushed to lodge a complaint at Central Police Station in Mombasa, prompting police to lock up my son for four days," the mother claimed, adding that he was later released without charges.
She went on to implore the police to investigate Ms Mueni, pleading with them to carry out a post-mortem to ascertain her claims of physical abuse.
On her part, the widow claimed that Mutinda received a call from his father just before his tragic death, adding that his last moments were haphazard and that he kept on mumbling words she could not comprehend.
She said her husband was possessed by demons and on that particular day,He was mumbling satanic things which forced her to pour hot water on his chest.
She said her pastor told her to exorcise demons ,one has to pour hot water on a possessed person.
She went ahead to explain that her husband never believed in prayer and always ran away during times of prayer.
KTN was first to report that Mutinda hastily left the house, without wearing a shirt, and drove into the channel on the day of the tragic incident.