Although her maiden family name, Egbule, literally means “don’t kill,” the man she married 15 years ago took no heed to the admonition. And so, when she went to bed on Saturday, April 6, 2024, Kasarachi had no premonition of the fate that awaited her in the dead of night.
Nothing prepared residents of the tranquil Umugaa Umunagbor, Amagbor autonomous community in Ihitte, Ezinihitte Mbaise local government area of Imo for the gory spectacle that confronted them in the wee hours of Sunday.
Although Kasarachi will never be the same again., the fact that she is still alive today after that dreadful night is indeed a miracle.
When she married about 15 years ago, young Kasarachi Egbule from Umuokoroma, Umunachi, Agu na Ebere autonomous community in Ezeagbogu, also in Ezinihitte Mbaise local government area had lofty dreams. What she didn’t expect was that her husband, Alex Nwogu, an okada rider, would make domestic violence a pastime. Ultimately, the marriage became hell on earth for the mother of four – three boys and a girl.
On that fateful Saturday, Alex took domestic violence notches higher. Kasarachi was already fast asleep when he viciously attacked her, inflicting near-fatal machete cuts on her that resulted in serious bodily injury. Leaving her for dead, Alex, disappeared into thin air. It was the distraught children who raised alarm. By this time, their mother was unconscious, having lost so much blood. The cuts were so deep that one of her hands was almost severed. The children reported that their father had initially tried using a gun to shoot their mother but miraculously, the trigger malfunctioned. In frustration, he dropped the gun and settled for the machete to accomplish his devilish task.
Narrating what happened, Chris Egbule, Kasarachi’s elder brother, a tipper driver at Aboh, headquarters of Aboh Mbaise local government area, said the pool of blood he saw where his sister was attacked “was like where two cows were killed.”
“We are yet to know exactly what happened. Kasarachi is yet to talk and tell us what really happened and the man who committed this atrocity, my supposed brother-in-law, is still with the police and we are yet to have access to him.
“All I call tell you is that very early in the morning of Sunday, April 7, I got a frantic call from my mother’s younger brother who hails from Ihitte demanding to see me immediately. The community where my sister married happens also to be our maternal home.
“I was terribly alarmed and quickly jumped on a motorbike and headed to Karasachi’s house because when I asked him what happened, he had told me that ‘Kasarachi has been killed. When I got to the house, people were everywhere echoing what my maternal uncle told me on phone – Alex has killed Kasarachi. The door to the house was locked but the blood that flowed out to the veranda was frightening. It was like where two cows were killed.”
But before he arrived, the rattled villagers had rushed his sister to Cecilia Memorial Hospital at Afor Ogbe, in Ahiazu-Mbaise local government area and the distraught children had been taken away. By the time he got to the hospital, the doctor had referred her to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Owerri. Speaking to TheNiche, Dr. Obioma Ekennia, a highly experienced medical doctor and proprietor of the hospital, said what he saw when Kasarachi was brought to the hospital was frightening.
Dr. Ekennia, who once represented Ezinihitte State Constituency at the Imo State House of Assembly and served as the Deputy Chief Whip, said: “She was really in a very bad shape when she was brought here on Sunday morning. When I came in, she had lost so much blood. She needed blood transfusion but to make matters worse, her blood group is O negative and the implication is that while everyone can receive O negative blood, which is why it is called the ‘universal blood type,’ she can only be transfused with blood from the same group because O negative blood type can only receive O negative blood. But we were able to manage the situation and stabilize her.”
At the Federal Medical Centre, Kasarachi was taken directly to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) where delicate surgeries were carried out. When contacted on Friday, a doctor at FMC, who pleaded anonymity, admitted that without the medical attention she received at the Cecilia Memorial Hospital, the story may have been different.
But even at that, doctors are not guaranteeing full recovery because of the severity of the injuries.“We managed to revive her before referring her to the Federal Medical Centre. They have carried out surgeries particularly on the head where she had very deep cuts but I am not sure that she will fully recover the use of the hand again because it was almost severed. But we thank God she is alive,” Dr. Ekennia further told TheNiche.
Ekennia, who incidentally hails from the same Ihitte community with the abusive husband, however said he never met the man. “I don’t know him. But he must be a fool to do what he did to his wife.”
Incidentally, while his kinsmen were looking for him, Alex Nwogu reported himself at the State Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Owerri where he was promptly detained. It is not yet clear what his motive was because the police have not allowed access to him. But a policeman involved in the investigation told TheNiche that whatever the issue may have been, “Anyone who is able to inflict that level of injury on any human being, not to talk of his wife, is not fit to live in a human community. He is an animal.”
He may not be far from the truth. Kasarachi’s brother confirmed that she has been in an abusive relationship for a long time. “Her husband has a reputation for violence. It is a very long story. He will beat my sister and sometimes bite her. It was as if he derived joy from inflicting injuries on her. My sister has no phone because he smashed her phone during one of their fights and forbid her from getting another one,” he explained.
“He is an okada rider and my sister is a petty trader in front of their house. But his people – brothers, sisters and even his mother never supported him. In fact, when the violence got out of hand and the relationship became so abusive, his mother, fearing that he may kill my sister, reported him to their own traditional ruler, Eze Mike Orji – Dimgba 1 of Amagbor Ihitte.
“When the monarch looked into the matter, he found Kasarachi’s husband guilty and spared no words in condemning his bad character. The Palace fined him one he-goat and some amount of money and the traditional ruler ordered that his motorbike be kept at the palace until he paid the fine“
Beyond that, Eze Mike Orji also advised us to go home with our sister until the husband shows readiness to behave well and we did just that. We took Kasarachi back home and she was with us for some months until the young man came with his family members and some people from their village to ask for forgiveness. They begged us to forget and forgive, that the man had repented from his bad ways and promised that such a thing will not happen again. That was precisely a year ago – April 2023.
After much pleading from him and his people, we conceded and he took back Kasarachi. We sincerely believed that he had learnt his lessons and changed for good. And we did not hear of any other problem from them since then until this incident happened. Apparently, the man deceived us. He was bidding his time and his goal this time was to finish the job by killing her. But God thwarted his hideous plan,” Chris further said. He is of the opinion that the attack was premeditated.
“One thing we have found out in the last one week is that in all the pictures, particularly their wedding pictures, he marked X wherever my sister appeared. Not only her, he did so to his mother and other people who, apparently, he saw as his enemies because they told him that what he was doing was bad. I suspect that he marked them for elimination starting from his wife. So, as long as he is free, even his mother and his brothers and sisters who never supported him are at risk of being eliminated.
“We are pleading with the police not to treat the matter with kid gloves. All we are asking for is justice.” As Kasarachi remains in hospital battling for her life and the husband is in police custody awaiting justice, their four children face very uncertain future in the care of their paternal grandmother.
