Love stories emerge from the most unexpected of circumstances and one such incident is that of a KDF soldier who kidnapped and later married an Al Shabaab bride.
In an interview with the Standard, the woman, Fatuma narrated how the soldier (name withheld) was part of a contingent that attacked the militants camp and kidnapped her - a move she stated, saved her life.
The ambush occurred a year after she had been recruited by the terror outfit. She was 20 years old at the time.
The soldiers overran the camp and killed many of the fighters. In a bid to save her life, Fatuma ran into the bushes.
"I escaped the perimeter being set up by the army and hid in a hole in the ground," she stated.
As fate would have it, a Kenyan soldier stumbled upon her in the hiding place. "He ordered me to be still. He said if I moved he or any other soldier around would shoot me dead on sight," Fatuma recalled.
She had no energy left and obliged with the orders. The soldier and a friend came for her later.
"They tied my hands and feet and wrapped me in some form of canvas and bundled me into a vehicle.
"I didn't know where I was. I could not see outside. I was moved like cargo from one vehicle to another. Every time this happened I was given some water and biscuits," she was quoted by the publication.
Fatuma was later taken to a house in Garissa town. The soldier then locked her inside his house assuring her of her safety.
"He used to visit me in the house. He told me about his life and eventually, we became close and he proposed to make me his wife. I had nothing to live for. I knew if I went back home I'd be dead," she stated.
With the goal of starting afresh, the soldier got her a new ID with a different name and they got married.
The army man was soon transferred to a military base in Central Kenya. Fatuma accompanied her husband to his new deployment.
Unfortunately, in 2017, barely a year after they got married, the KDF soldier died.
"He died from complications from HIV. I don't know if I gave it to him or he gave it to me," she conveyed.
After his death, Fatuma moved to Malindi and commenced on the next chapter of her life with a new husband.