In Kenya, police say they have arrested a “psychotic serial killer” suspected of killing 42 women.

Kenyan police announced their arrest on Monday, July 15, after nine decomposed bodies were found in a Nairobi garbage dump. “The Psychopath Serial Killer”. Arrested in the morning, Collins Jumaisi Kalusha, 33 years old, “Confessed to luring, killing and disposing of 42 women’s corpses at a garbage dump”, Chief of the Directorate of Criminal Investigation Amin Mohammed announced in a press conference. According to the latter, Collins Jumaisi Kalusha was arrested on Sunday evening in front of a company in the capital. “He came to see the final of the European Football Championship”.

“We are dealing with a psychopathic serial killer who has no respect for human life.”, the head of the Criminal Investigation Division added. a knife, “According to us it was used to dismember the victims”Discovered during a search of the suspect’s home, he subsequently called Collins Jumaisi Kalusha. “Vampire”. “Unfortunately, very unfortunately, the suspect said his first victim was his wife (…) Before he strangled her, dismembered her body and dumped it.” At the landfill, Amin Mohammed said. According to preliminary investigations, all the victims were killed “in the same way”.

According to the police, the murders took place between 2022 and July 11, 2024. “The second suspect (…) Arrested with one of the victim’s phones », Amin Mohammed said without elaborating. According to officials, nine bodies, including at least eight women’s bodies, have so far been recovered from the landfill between the start of the search on Friday and Sunday. According to Amin Mohammad, the first eight victims range in age from 18 to 30 years.

Are the police involved?

The police were heavily criticized after the first bodies were found in the dump, located less than 100 meters from the police station. Acting National Police Chief Douglas Ganja made the assurance on Sunday “Transparent, thorough and expeditious investigations”, stressed that the police officers from the police station located near the dump have been transferred elsewhere. On Friday, the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA) announced it would investigate police involvement in the killings.

The case comes as Kenyan security forces have come under pressure since dozens of people died in June during recent protests against the government’s planned tax hikes. The National Human Rights Commission reported in early July that thirty-nine people had been killed and more than 630 injured by live ammunition fired at demonstrators.

In Kenya, the police are feared and regularly blamed for killings and extrajudicial executions, especially in poor neighborhoods, but they are rarely condemned. Douglas Ganja took office on Friday after Jabet Koum resigned following deadly protests at the end of June.