Kenyan woman dies in Dubai after beating

Published on 21/03/2012 

By Standard Reporter
A Kenyan woman has died in a United Arab Emirates hospital a month after a brutal beating in a Dubai parking lot.
Esther Wanjiru Mwikamba, 26, who had been in a coma since the attack, succumbed to severe injuries at about 8am Tuesday.
"Esther succumbed to head injuries after battling for her life for 31 days at the intensive care unit of the Rashid Hospital," Gulf News reported. "Her body has been moved to Dubai Police's Forensic Department for an autopsy."
Esther was a former sales clerk at a Dubai mall. She was injured in the early hours of February 18 trying to protect a friend from sexual assault.
During the incident, behind the Crowne Plaza on Sheikh Zayed Road, Esther was punched to the ground and kicked repeatedly in the head after she tried to stop a man from touching one of her two friends inappropriately.
According to reports in Dubai media, a 24-year-old Emirati man, identified by the initials AAG or AM, faces charges over the beating and the sexual assault. Prosecutors say the suspect could now face between three to 10 years in jail for the attack.

Esther Wanjiru Mwikamba, died in a United Arab Emirates hospital on Tuesday, a month after a brutal beating in a Dubai parking lot. Photo: Courtesy

"He is currently being questioned over two charges; beating which led to death and sexually harassing the victim's friend," a prosecutor said.
Esther's mother, Hannah Mwikamba, who traveled to Dubai after the attack, suffered a minor stroke on Saturday upon learning that doctors could no longer save her daughter. Her daughter, Lucy, the victim's younger sister, recounted how she learned of Esther’s death.
"They just called me in the morning, ‘Come quickly, come, Esther's dying’," she told Gulf News, fighting back her tears. "But, I arrived two minutes late. She died at 8am."
Esther, the eldest and only breadwinner of the family, leaves behind three siblings and her parents. She hails from Thika district.
Members of the Kenyan community in the UAE are making arrangements to move her body home for burial.

According to Gulf News, scores of Kenyan nationals visited the Mwikamba family at Rashid Hospital on Tuesday to offer their prayers and condolences.
Kenya’s Ambassador to the UAE Mohammad Abdo Jillo also paid Hannah and Lucy a visit along with Kenyan community leaders from the UAE.
"We are here to condole with the family together with the Kenyan community. In the present circumstances, Esther's mum is in the hospital. Now that the mum is here, the decision to repatriate the body rests on the family. Our job is only to facilitate the repatriation," Ambassador Jillo said.
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