Irate residents of Kyamatula village in Mwala Sub County lynched a 25-year-old man over the weekend for burglary.
The deceased identified as Kaminda Mumo and who is said to be well known by the members of the public for his criminal activities was cornered on Saturday morning at Miondoni area near Masii town and taken back to his home in Kyamatula village, off the Yathui-Kibauni road, where he was beaten to death and his body later set on fire.
One woman who fell victim to the suspect and who identified herself as Felista Kibatha said she was robbed of Sh3, 300 by the knife-wielding suspect who also stabbed her in the back in the ensuing commotion.
According to the victim, Mumo had raided her house while she was asleep and demanded all the money in the house, while threatening dire consequences.
However, after giving him Sh300, he stabbed her on the back and demanded more money threatening her further, if she failed to comply.
She eventually retrieved some Sh3000 she had hidden beneath her mattress and handed over the money to the suspect.
“I was asleep when he (Mumo) broke into my house and demanded money from me while threatening to harm me if I failed to cooperate. When I gave him Sh300 he became wild and threatened to kill me unless I gave out all the money in the house forcing me to remove some Sh3,000 I had hidden under my mattress. By this time, he had stabbed me on my back, and I was bleeding seriously and was in a lot of pain,” said Kibatha.
He is said to have later broken into another house in the same locality and injured another person before making away with an unspecified amount of money.
Members of the public led by the area Community Policing team afterward caught up with the suspect at Miondoni area before whisking him to Kyamatula village where he was beaten up and his body set ablaze.
David Mbithi, a bodaboda operator from Kyamatula village, advised youth from the locality to seek alternative sources of income instead of engaging in criminal activities whose consequences may be tragic.
“Youth should look for legitimate ways of earning a livelihood instead of indulging in criminal activities that may end up costing them their lives. We are all undergoing difficult economic times, and everybody is struggling to make it just to earn a living. Nobody should live off the sweat of others at this time,” he said.
The body was later collected by Masii Police led by the OCS Felix Nkonga and taken to Machakos Level 5 hospital mortuary.
Last week Assistant Inspector General of Police Ms Judy Lamet hailed efforts by the Mwala Community Policing Initiative for the reduced crime levels in the sub county.
Speaking on Thursday during an impromptu visit at the Masii Police Station where she held a brief meeting with the Mwala Community Policing officials led by its chair Danson Makau Kimithi, the officer who is also the National Director In charge of Community Policing, Gender Based Violence and Child Protection, said the programme had proved effective in crime prevention as well as enhanced reportage on gender based offences.
Lamet who was flanked by Mwala Sub county Police Commander Ronald Kirui further thanked the locals for supporting the team and urged them to continue partnering with security agents in reporting criminal activities within the area.
“We thank this team for the great work it has done since it was launched on January 23 this year. Since its inception, we have seen reduced crime rates in this sub county and residents have been cooperating with security officials on matters related to drug trafficking and gender based violence,” said the officer who also gave out 0800730999 as the free hotline number for reporting cases of gender based violence.
By Samuel Maina
