A middle-aged man on Wednesday night killed his wife and two children following a family dispute at Bendera area in West Pokot County.
It is alleged that the man locked himself and his family in their rental house, stabbed the wife severally, before setting the house on fire. He further tried to kill himself but was saved by the neighbours.
Confirming the incident, the area police commander Jackson Tumwet said his officers are investigating the matter.
He said the caretaker of the rental houses, Mr Geoffrey Plimo called officers at Kapenguria police station, reporting that the suspect Joseph Lokwang had locked his family in his single-room rental house and ignited a fire.
“Police officers rushed to the scene immediately after receiving the report and were able to rescue him and his wife with the help of members of the public. Both had multiple stab wounds and burns. Two of their children, aged five and three years were burnt beyond recognition,” he said.
Tumwet added that the couple were rushed to Kapenguria County Referral hospital where the wife was pronounced dead on arrival and the husband was admitted in a critical condition under police guard.
Neighbours interviewed by KNA said the man has been having frequent quarrels with his wife and last night around midnight they were woken up by smell of smoke which came from one of the rental houses.
Everline Cheyech, a neighbour, said she heard the wife to the suspect screaming for help and that’s when she woke up her fellow neighbours and rushed to see what was happening.
“I heard some screams, forcing me to alert my neighbours, and we rushed to the scene and we found the door locked from inside. We managed to break the door but unfortunately we could not save the kids because they succumbed to the blaze,” said Cheyech.
“The wife was struggling to save herself but she succumbed to the injuries after being stabbed on the chest by her husband. The man was standing at the door oozing blood from his neck,” she said.
She said the man also stabbed himself in an attempted suicide but unfortunately he didn’t succumb to the injuries and was rushed to the hospital.
Santos Madalo, the area village leader condemned the murder incident, citing the fact that there was no influence of alcohol that could have provoked the man to kill his wife and his children.
“We are yet to come to the terms with what transpired. We cannot say it was under the influence of alcohol as nobody takes any in that family,” he said.
The three bodies were moved to Kapenguria County Referral hospital mortuary awaiting postmortem. The commander suspected the incident to have been as a result of family disagreements.
By John Saina
