Police in Kenya arrested Wednesday a man found carrying the mutilated corpse of his wife in a backpack, the latest case of gender-based violence to appal the country.

It comes only weeks after hundreds of women were tear gassed as they rallied in the capital Nairobi to demonstrate against femicide and demand action from the authorities.

A murder investigation has been launched after John Kiama Wambua, 29, was detained by Nairobi police at around 5:00 am (0200 GMT), when a routine patrol examined his bag.

Officers suspected the man of carrying illegal goods, but “to their shock discovered part of a mutilated human body”, the directorate of criminal investigations said on X.

Police said Wambua was “unperturbed” by the discovery of the body parts, which he said during an interrogation were of his 19-year-old wife, Joy Fridah Munani.

He led officers to the couple’s home, where police found a “horrendous” scene with a bloody floor, blood-stained clothes and the murder weapon — “a sharp knife”.

They said more human remains were found beneath a bed, but “some body parts were still missing”.

In November, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said it had recorded 97 murders of women in the last three months.

Domestic violence periodically hits the headlines in the East African nation, with activists repeatedly warning of femicide.

Last year, the country was left horrified by the killing of Ugandan Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei, who was doused in petrol and set alight in Kenya by her boyfriend.

She was just the latest woman athlete to lose her life in domestic abuse, after Agnes Tirop and Damaris Mutua. (AFP)

•John Kiama Wambua appeared “unperturbed” at being caught with the body parts, Kenya’s Directorate for Criminal Investigations said. PHOTO: DCI Kenya