Kenyan Police Arrest Suspected Serial Killer of 42 Women

Kenya’s police on Monday said that they had arrested a suspected serial killer who they said confessed to killing 42 women in the past two years, a shocking development in a country wracked by political turmoil and a spate of violence against women.

The police arrested the man days after the dismembered bodies of nine women were found at an abandoned quarry used as a dumping site in a shantytown in Nairobi, the capital.

The man, identified as Collins Jumaisi Khalusha, 33, confessed to having “lured, killed and disposed” of the women, including his wife, at the dumping site, according to a statement by Mohamed I. Amin, the director of the police department’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations. Mr. Khalusha confessed to having carried out the killings between 2022 and last Thursday, Mr. Amin said.

The police say that they are still investigating the motive behind the killings. The suspect is set to be arraigned in court on Tuesday.

The murders of the women have rattled Kenya, a nation of 55 million people that has been swept by deadly protests over tax hikes and graft that have galvanized young people. Protests aimed at unseating President William Ruto are expected to flare up again this week, even after he withdrew the finance bill that would have increased taxes and dismissed all but one member of his cabinet.

Women in Kenya have been trying to call attention to what they say is a rising wave of gender-based violence that is often perpetrated by male partners and close relatives.