Alarm over high cases of relatives killing each other
Last Wednesday, in a span of about 10 hours, James Okeri suffered a cut in the head and lost two sons in very brutal ways at Erandi village, Nyamira county.
Ironically, Okeri was attacked by his own son. A few minutes earlier, the son had brutally killed his younger brother.
When villagers tracked him down a few hours later, they beat him to death.
The old man is now planning the burial of two sons, whose bodies are at Nyamira county hospital mortuary.
Okeri told police that he received a call from one of his sons, Lucas Sabwegi Okeri, 22, but the son did not speak. Accompanied by his wife, they went to the son’s house and found it locked from inside.
A man then opened the door, viciously attacked Okeri, and ran away.
When the couple entered the house, they found their son lying in a pool of blood. Blood was oozing from his mouth and nose. They took him to Ekerenyo Sub-county hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The following morning, villagers recovered a pair of slippers and a cap, which were positively identified by the mother as belonging to her son, Philip Achochi Omae, aged 33.
Irate members of the public launched a manhunt for the suspect, whom they later found hiding in a house. He was subjected to mob injustice. According to police reports, there is an increase in such cases where family members target their own.
Last Thursday, a 15-year-old Form One student at Kawetheri Secondary School confessed to killing three siblings and a cousin.
She was arraigned at Kikuyu Law Courts.
But no charges have been preferred against the minor. The prosecution asked Senior Resident Magistrate Catherine Mburu for 14 days to detain her so as to complete investigations. They also wanted a mental assessment of her.
The case was heard in camera since the suspect is a minor. Prosecutor Cliff Machogou said detectives would also get an opportunity to exhume the bodies of Liam Gichuhi and Valeria Muthoni for post-mortem examination.
“Two other bodies had undergone post-mortem examinations before their burials”, he said adding that the suspect’s confession is not admissible in law, and hence not prosecutable, unless she confesses before a Senior Superintendent of Police.
Killed her kin
The case will be mentioned on September 12. The suspect is at local remand home. She confessed that on diverse dates between July last year and this month, she killed her brother Liam Gichuhi, 15 months, and sisters Valeria Muthoni and Rachel Wanjiru, aged five and seven years, respectively, at her parents home in Gikambura, Kikuyu sub-county.
She also confessed to killing her cousin, who was 20 months old, at Gathiga village, Kabete sub-county, by drowning him in a well in their compound last month.
The suspect first disclosed her role in the macabre murder by calling her father from school and confessing to the killings.
“While at school, she borrowed a phone from her teacher and called her father to confess that she had killed the juveniles”, said a police source.
The confession indicated that on July 14, 2021, the minor murdered Liam by suffocating him with a pillow and then covered the body with a blanket. And on August 7, 2021, she confessed to killing Valeria by strangling her with a pillow.
Later, on September 25, last year, she said she killed her sister Rachel by strangling her for 10 minutes. She then drowned her in a basin full of water and then poured boiling water on her face.
When schools closed for the elections, she visited her grandmother at Gathiga, Kabete. It is during time during that her cousin, Martin Kiogora, disappeared.
A search was launched by relatives and neighbours, who found his lifeless body in a well within the compound. The minor said that, while committing the murders, she felt a strange force urging her not to fear. The father told investigators that before her daughter’s confession, the family thought the deaths were natural..
He added that his daughter said she had planned to kill him, together with his wife Catherine Wanjiku. The investigations are led by Kikuyu sub-county police boss George Muriuki.
In another case last Thursday morning in Boncharia sub-location in Masaba North, Nyamira County, a man went berserk and killed his two children after locking them inside their house. The man then killed himself during at about 3am.
Confirming the incident, Masaba North OCPD Robert Ndambili said the man, identified as Asha Omanga Makori, had picked a quarrel with his wife. He then chased her out of the house.
“The man had mental problems and had been going to hospital for medication the whole of last week,” Ndambiri said.
“He torched the mattress and other belongings in the house. We suspect that the minors died due to smoke inhalation and suffocation,” he added.
The same day in Kusumek village, Bureti sub-county, a secondary school student who was alleged to have murdered his elder brother on suspicion of stealing his chicken surrendered to Litein police.
The suspect, aged 15, allegedly slashed his elder brother twice on the neck using a panga on Sunday evening at their home.
Bureti Sub-County Police Commander Peter Isanda said they are holding the minor who will be arraigned in court.
Beat wife to death
Detectives are also holding a 27-year-old man who beat his wife to death in Kitengela town last Thursday. The suspect, said to be a drug addict, was involved in a fight with his wife, 21.
Neighbours said they broke into the house and found the man beating his wife.
Isinya sub-county police commander Ancient Kaloki said the suspect is being interrogated. “ We are holding him for further interrogation,” Kaloki said.
In one case in Meru last Wednesday, a woman and her daughter were assaulted by family members following a dispute over family land.
And on Sunday last week, a woman stabbed her husband following a domestic quarrel in Kakrao, Migori County.
In Mathioya, Murang’a county, police have arrested a middle aged man who allegedly killed his mother and buried her in a shallow grave. Samuel Mukiria, 45, is said to be mentally unstable. He reportedly hit his mother, 85, with an axe.
Yesterday, police spokesman Bruno Shioso attributed most of these deaths to unresolved property disputes among siblings and parents.
“Family-based crimes are a reality. They are mainly caused by tension over property rights. Without adequate evidence, prosecution and redress is hampered,” he stated.
Such attacks have also been attributed to disputes over land and other resources.
In one case in Meru last Wednesday, a woman and her daughter were assaulted by family members following a dispute over family land in Nkubu township, Imenti South.
Pauline Kaimuri, 56, was cut in the head and right leg while her daughter, Lilian Gacheru, sustained a cut in the right thumb. The mother was taken to Kanyakine sub-county hospital in critical condition. Investigations identified Morris Mwirige as one of the attackers. He is still at large.
And on Sunday last week, a woman stabbed her husband following a domestic quarrel in Kakrao, Migori County. Diana Triza, 18, grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed Emmanuel Otieno 21. He was admitted to hospital in a serious condition.
Other attacks have been attributed to drug and substance abuse.
In some parts of Kenya, elderly people have been targeted in pretext that they are sorcerers. A number of these cases have attributed to quarrels over land and other family wealth.
Stories by Zadock Angira, Evans Nyakundi, Christine Musa and Clement Kamau
