Woman scalds boyfriend with hot water, flees with Ksh.318K on Valentine's eve

Steve Godia says the attack happened on the eve of Valentine’s Day at his rented house in Umoja 1 Estate, Nairobi. Steve alleged that his irate girlfriend confronted him over suspicions that he was involved with an ex-girlfriend.

The matter was reported to police, but ten days on, the suspect remains at large, leaving Steve and his family anxious for justice.

Love turned into horror on the eve of Valentine’s Day. In what police are investigating as attempted murder and grievous assault, allegedly at the hands of a jilted lover, Steve Godia is now counting the cost. Writhing in pain, he is struggling to process how a day meant to celebrate love became a fight for his life.

Admitted to a city hospital, Steve says he was attacked by his girlfriend, scalded with hot water during what he believed would be a calm meeting to iron out differences in their relationship.

Instead, that conversation allegedly erupted into violence, leaving him with severe injuries and a Valentine’s he may never forget.

"It was my girlfriend who burnt me because she felt that like my explanation about my ex-girlfriend was not enough and maybe when I spoke she felt I was being disrespectful," Godia noted. 

Steve alleges the suspect, a woman he has known for the past three years, visited him that night but with a very different mission.

According to Steve, what began as a tense confrontation quickly escalated. She allegedly demanded to know whether he was involved with an ex-girlfriend. Then, in the dead of night, he claims she boiled water and poured it onto his face. Moments later, she fled the scene.

"The water was superheated to high temperatures. The next morning, my eyes were swollen, my entire face was swollen, I could not see anything. The wounds were aching," he pointed out. 

CCTV cameras captured the suspect moments after the alleged attack, hurriedly leaving the premises shortly after the incident. Steve has identified the woman as Gladwell Kagai, someone he says he trusted and had known for three years.

But the alleged assault was not the only blow. As he lay helpless and in excruciating pain, Steve claims she took two of his mobile phones and transferred more than Ksh.300,000 from his account.

"I realised she had stolen my two phones and transferred all the money I had. I had Ksh.318,000 and she left me with Ksh.7 only. Though police say they are on the case, I feel like they are slow. I want the suspect to be arrested and presented in court," Godia added. 

Steve, a third-year student at Multimedia University, says the ordeal has forced him to miss his exams, adding academic disruption to his physical and emotional pain. His hope is that the suspect will be apprehended.