Body of a Kenyan Woman in a Saudi Arabian Morgue for Eight Months Finally Arrives Home

Emotions run high as the family of Margaret Ruguru Waweru, who died under mysterious circumstances in Saudi Arabia in March, received her remains at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) over the weekend.

The 29-year-old’s embalmed body, which had been lying at the Shimesi Hospital mortuary in Riyadh for about eight months, arrived in the country on Saturday. Family and friends gathered at PNN Funeral Home in Nakuru to view it.

Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko and his charitable organization, Sonko Rescue Team facilitated the repatriation of Ruguru’s body.

“It is painful. You left the country alive to look for a better life but you return in a casket. I don’t know what to tell your young children. I wish to know what happened to you,” Ruguru’s mother Lucy Muthoni said as she viewed the body of her daughter.
 
Even though documents from Saudi authorities and the hospital indicate Ruguru, who left the country in May 2021, died a natural death, it is suspected that she was murdered by her employer.

In her last communication to the family on March 6th, the deceased said her employer had issued death threats over a missing TV remote control.

“How come the death certificate shows that she died on the same day she was threatened? This is not a coincidence. It was not a natural death but a conspiracy to cover up,” said Muthoni.

The family lost communication with her in March and sought help from her recruiting agent, who claimed that Ruguru escaped from her employer’s house.

“It was until October that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed us that our daughter had died. The agent again lied to the government that she had died in August yet it was in March,” the distraught mother added.

Ruguru’s dad Michael Waweru believes the agent lied to avoid paying the repatriation and mortuary costs.