A three-year-old boy was found brutally murdered in Murang’a County on Monday, prompting an angry mob to hunt down and kill the suspected attacker.
According to police, the incident was reported at about 6:30 p.m. at Mumbu Village in Kandani Location, Kigumo Sub-County. The victim was found dead inside a house with severe injuries.
The motive for the child’s killing has not yet been established.
Investigators identified the suspect as 58-year-old Joseph Kimani Gitau, who allegedly fled after the attack and hid at his grandmother’s homestead about two kilometres away.
However, irate residents tracked him down, forced him out of the hideout and lynched him.
Police processed both scenes before transferring the bodies of the child and the suspect to Kigumo Level IV Hospital Mortuary, where they are awaiting post-mortem examinations.
Investigations into the child’s murder and the subsequent mob killing are ongoing.
And a 73-year-old woman died after she was allegedly attacked while trying to mediate a family dispute in Etago Sub-county, Kisii County, sparking retaliatory arson by angry residents.
According to police, Florence Nyabeki Nyakweba had been invited to the home of her son , in West Gate Village, Mugenda Sub-location, to help resolve a long-standing conflict between her two daughters-in-law.
Police said that, according to the son, his wife allegedly attacked the elderly woman with an unidentified object, causing her to fall before fleeing the scene.
Florence was rushed to Etago Level IV Sub-county Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. A preliminary examination reportedly found no visible external injuries. Her body was later transferred to Tabaka Mission Hospital Mortuary, where it is awaiting a post-mortem examination to determine the cause of death.
Following the incident, irate members of the public set ablaze two semi-permanent houses belonging to the suspects. The houses were completely destroyed, although the value of the damage has not yet been established.
Police processed the scene and launched investigations. The son was arrested after reporting the incident while efforts are ongoing to trace and arrest Lilian Nyaboke, who remains at large.
