It began, as many modern romances do, with a swipe. It was the Tuesday morning of August 12 when she opened Tinder and matched with a man whose profile carried the initials “KJ”. And within minutes, he wanted to meet, a wish she granted.

This is the story of Zawadi and Zion, whose names we have changed for the purposes of affording them dignity and for them to share their story without the stigmatisation.

“We literally matched on that day and he was insisting we meet on the very day,” narrated Zawadi. “His dating profile said KJ, of which I asked him what KJ is in full. He said, Kevin Johnson.”

That was the beginning of an interaction that would quickly become the worst decision she ever made.

At first, it appeared pretty straightforward. Much of their interactions were still about direct questions and answers, which both Zawadi and Zion thought would be the foundation of the everlasting happily ever after. They were wrong.

Zawadi had reservations about meeting King Nwachukwu, as KJ calls himself, right away. But KJ wanted to meet her right away. Zion outright told him she would only be available in the evening.

Being a foreigner who flew into the country to find love, time seemingly was of the essence according to the ladies he met. Understandably, because he was just here for a short period, both of them compromised for the sake of love. Trust mattered just as much as time.

KJ’s plan, however, it appears, was always to meet the prey as quickly as he could and before they could exactly figure out anything, he was meant to have accomplished his mission, Zawadi said in hindsight.

He used the allure of Tinder’s matchmaking, which operates on a simple swipe-based system that allows users to browse profiles of potential matches based on their location and preferences.

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He was close to them, and they both liked his profile.

Users of Tinder swipe right on profiles they are interested in and left on those they are not. When two users independently swipe right on each other, they “match”, allowing them to communicate through the app.

That’s how Zawadi and Zion matched with the same foreign man within Nairobi, and within hours they were already intimate with him.

Being in Kenya and just a few miles from each of the ladies, they matched and somehow agreed to meet the very day in the evening.

The man invited them to his apartment in Nairobi’s Westlands, where they met, separately, and engaged in what they say was non-consensual intimacy on the same day they matched on Tinder.

According to Zawadi and Zion, they had been on Tinder for a while now, but they did not frequently log in. They were only trying their luck at finding something everlasting on the online dating platforms, they said.

And Nwachukwu was promising them genuine love, explaining that he was in Kenya to find true love.

Nwachukwu told Zawadi and Zion he had been bruised by love before. And this was but another stab at giving love a chance again.

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Typical of a first date, they expected they were going to have a conversation before agreeing to advance in any direction.

Online dating app, Tinder.

Photo credit: Fotosearch

But once the man invited them to his hotel room, far from the public and very tall in the apartments, that’s where he preyed on them.

On the twelfth floor that he always suggested, the ladies were always helpless and desperate. That’s when the man would unleash his beast mode.

He would instantly drop the caring and understanding tone that he had in the texts to a more demanding and ferocious energy, they narrated.

And when they declined to do as the man wished, he would beat them up to admission.

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“I had little control over what I could do,” distraught Zion said. And the prospect of watching the promise of everlasting love evaporate was not only heartbreaking, but also deeply unsettling.

As brief as the encounter was, much of it is now clouded with a reminder of how quickly hope can turn into helplessness.

Nairobi County Chief Officer of Citizen Engagement and Customer Service Geoffrey Mosiria, who helped the victims seek justice, said Nwachukwu used “the same formula of promising heaven on earth” on both victims.

The police told the Nation that Nwachukwu is a Nigerian and not an American, as he told Zawadi and Zion.

He travelled to Kenya on a visit visa valid for three months. He was arraigned earlier this week and now faces a main charge of rape and an alternative charge of committing an indecent act with an adult.

The matter will be heard on August 31, when a pre-bail report is also expected to be presented, and he remains in custody until then.

Months earlier, a Russian man allegedly recorded and circulated intimate videos involving Kenyan women without their consent.

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dogetta@ke.nationmedia.com