Safari Rally Driver Maxine Wahome details 'abusive' relationship with late boyfriend Asad Khan

Safari rally driver Maxine Wahome who stands accused of murdering boyfriend Asad Khan says their three-year relationship was abusive.

Wahome, who was represented by Senior Counsel Philip Murgor, appeared at the Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi on Tuesday for bail hearing application.

She told the court that the deceased and his brother Adil Khan used to take up her rally sponsorship funds.

"Ms Wahome is a young lady aged 25 years and is dependent on her parents. Asad was a mechanic who helped her fix her rally cars and when she got famous, all the sponsorship money ended up in the hands of Asad and his brother Adil," Murgor told the court.

The court also heard that Khan's family had reportedly confiscated Wahome's car and were demanding a KSh2.9 million payout to release it.

"As she stands here, she does not have anything in her pocket and very little in her bank account," Murgor said.

The petition was however dismissed by Justice Lilian Mutende.

The two allegedly met when the rally driver, 22 years old then, was a kindergarten teacher. Khan is said to have introduced her to the sport.

During the December 11 fatal scuffle, Lawyer Murgor told the court his client intended to move out of the deceased's house.

"When the incident occurred she was going to pack her bags to leave the Khan's house," he added.

Murgor went on to tell the court that Wahome was continuously abused by Khan and she did not attack the deceased at any one point that day.

Khan was allegedly drunk and yelled at Wahome to leave his house, before injuring himself with broken glass.

"Evidence shows no guilt on the part of the accused. On their evidence, one of the documents provided to court is a report from Nairobi Hospital showing that Khan was so impaired to be in control and one can die if he had underlying health condition. He was drunk," the lawyer explained.

The prosecutor appealed to the court to deny Wahome bail application and instead detain her pending trial.

Prosecution said Wahome withheld particular details of the incident from the deceased's family which points to bias in the case. Furthermore, after the occurrence, Wahome opted to call her parents first instead of filing a report with the police.

"In choosing to call her parents as the first responders and shielding the family of the victim from the specifics of the incident, is enough reason that the accused was keen on misleading, misdirecting, misrepresenting facts and dragging the pace of investigations in this matter," prosecution added.

Justice Mutende ruled that Wahome be detained until a date was set for bail hearing application. 

Mentioning of the case will be done virtually on March 27.