Dubai hotel carpark beating victim, who was in coma, dies

Woman was attacked outside the Crowne Plaza on Sheikh Zayed Road in February.

DUBAI // A young woman who was brutally beaten in the carpark of a hotel last month died this morning. Esther Wanjiru Mwikamba, a 26-year-old Kenyan who worked in retail, had been in a coma at Rashid Hospital since the February 18 attack.
"Doctors have confirmed her death today morning," said Penninah Nyokabi Kirku, a close friend of Esther's who has been visiting her every day. "Esther's mum has also been hospitalised due to high blood pressure, but she has been informed about the death."
Esther was punched to the ground and repeatedly kicked in the head by her assailants outside the Crowne Plaza on Sheikh Zayed Road in the early hours of February 18.
"Everyone is in a state of shock," said Ms Kirku. "We lost a wonderful human being."
She said that the Kenyan ambassador and other community members would be visiting her body in the hospital in the evening. "We are making arrangements to repatriate her body to Kenya. It's a sad moment for us," she added.
Police are holding an Emirati in connection with the assault on Ms Mwikamba, according to the Kenyan ambassador to the UAE, Mohammad Gello.
"We got information that she passed away at around 8am in Rashid Hosptial," said the ambassador. "Efforts are on to repatriate the body to Kenya.
"The mother is in the hospital too and we are waiting for her to recover," he added.
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