Petrifying and unsettling details continue to emerge following the death of Agnes Tirop and the arrest of her husband Ibrahim Rotich
Rotich is reported to have manipulated Tirop into buying property in his name.
He was arrested in Changamwe, Mombasa County on Thursday, October 14, as he tried to flee the country. Sources aver that he had successfully convinced Tirop to attach all her hard-earned estates under his name.
According to the family, Tirop had amassed wealth gained from the proceeds of her athletic career. She had bought a piece of land under her lover’s name. She was also en route to poultry farming and had purchased the necessities for the project
The family wants Rotich forced to surrender all the wealth acquired by their daughter.
The athlete’s father, Mzee Vincent Tirop, said Rotich convinced Tirop to drop out of school in Form Three, going against the family’s expectations. After doing so, the father narrated that he eloped with her daughter for over six months.
“Let it be known that my daughter was never married to the suspect. I have never met his parents or even received any dowry. What I know is my child was forced to drop out of her studies while in Form Three. The suspect had me arrested together with my wife when he eloped with my daughter for over six months,” he stated.
Her brother also revealed that Tirop had confided to him that she was in an abusive relationship but he, however, stated that she opened up too late.
“My sister had confided in me that her husband was abusing her but she opened up too late. I was shocked when she said she would be visiting home every weekend after returning from the Olympics, she had not been home for long. The day she landed home (from Tokyo, Japan) she was beaten overnight and had a swollen face the following day,” he recounted.
Her mother Dina Tirop said the athlete had visited her parents three days before the shocking news of her death broke.
“We were here at home on Sunday, and she left to start her training in Iten. She had brought school fees for her five siblings because schools were reopening,” Dina said. Tirop was her fifth child out of ten.
Dina said she did not speak with her daughter after they parted ways.
“Agnes did everything for us. She lifted us from nothing and has been the family’s pillar. She had big plans for herself and the family. I am yet to believe that she is gone forever. She was my darling daughter. She loved all of us.”
On Wednesday, when Tirop’s body was discovered in her bedroom in Iten, Dina said she was home supervising the construction of a dairy unit when her husband called to inform her that all was not well with their daughter.
The mother, who is not on social media and was not watching TV when the shocking news broke, said her husband initially informed her that Tirop had gone missing.
“A few minutes after my husband called, I saw several neighbours streaming into our home. They were sad, and that is when I sensed that something terribly wrong might have happened to my daughter. No one was talking until later when one of our relatives explained that my daughter had been found dead,” Dina said.
Dina claims she knew Ibrahim only as her daughter’s coach.
“I have not given out my daughter for marriage. Whoever is said to be her husband is not known to us and our family as such. No one had come to seek my daughter’s hand in marriage.”