Benter Apondi: Slain SDA singer buried in emotional closed-casket funeral

• RIAT student and SDA singer Rose Benter Apondi was laid to rest on April 23 at her home in Uyoma, Siaya county
• Apondi’s body was found in a forest a week after she was reported missing, with her estranged boyfriend named as the main suspect in her murder
• Her aunt, Arich Ndege, revealed the heartbreaking condition in which her remains were found and explained why there was no body viewing at her burial

A cloud of grief engulfed Uyoma in Siaya county at the home of Ramogi Institute of Advanced Technology (RIAT) student Rose Benter Apondi, who was brutally murdered.

Family, friends, and colleagues gathered at her home to bid her their final farewell and give her a befitting send-off, even as they continued to call for justice.

Apondi was found dead in a forest in Kisumu, a week after she had been reported missing.

Read also

Nairobi woman homeless for years lands office job after remarkable transformation

Tragically, her body was found in an advanced state of decomposition, with the family stating that some of her body parts were missing.

The young SDA choir member was laid to rest on April 23, in a sombre and deeply emotional funeral ceremony.

Apondi’s burial was attended by her schoolmates, as well as 30 different SDA choirs, who stayed through the night for the vigil, as revealed by her aunt, Arich Ndege.

Why was Benter Apondi given a closed-casket burial?

Her coffin was sealed at the mortuary at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital, and there was no body viewing due to the condition in which her remains were found.

Arich also shared screenshots of her conversation with the young woman’s father, who described the horrific state in which her body had been left.

He noted that the young student had two stab wounds on her back, seemingly inflicted with a knife, and it appeared that she had died in immense pain.

“We didn’t get a clear cause of death because her body had already decomposed, and many body parts were missing, including half of her tongue. I had a lot of questions during the post-mortem, such as how a bird could eat half of the leg while the fibula and tibia appeared to have been cut,” read the screenshots in part.

Read also

Double tragedy as bus en route to burial overturns leaving coffin destroyed, 1 mourner dead

How did Benter Apondi die?

Apondi was allegedly brutally murdered by her estranged boyfriend, Steven Coleman Okoth, who is currently in police custody.

Authorities said Coleman confessed to fatally attacking her after finding messages on her phone from another man.

He reportedly explained how he lured her out of her house on April 5, with the help of two other men, under the guise of helping her secure an attachment opportunity.

Further investigations revealed that the 21-year-old woman’s phone was switched off at the Compassionate Centre for Families (CCF) in Milimani, Kisumu, where Coleman worked.

Detectives handling the case acted promptly and arrested Coleman at the CCF office, where he initially refused to cooperate.

What did Apondi’s mum say?

In other news, NgGossips reported that the RIAT student’s mother, Alice Atieno, painfully narrated how she received news of her daughter’s death.

Atieno said she had travelled to Nairobi on personal errands and had not yet spoken to Apondi when she learnt of her disappearance.

Read also

Helen Nakimuli: Heartbreaking moment as late MP’s daughter arrives at mortuary to view body

“My heart is broken. I was only told that she was nowhere to be found. I still cannot comprehend what happened to my child,” she said.

Source: NgGossips