Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officials in Taita-Taveta County are investigating an incident where a 58-year old man died after he was allegedly beaten by sons of his lover at their home in Maungu in Voi sub-county.
The sons are said to have been unhappy with the relationship and in what appears like an attempt for a cover-up, the death was first reported as a motorbike accident at the police station.
It was not until a hawk-eyed mortuary attendant at the Moi County Referral Hospital doubted the accident theory that a deeper probe was conducted. Post-mortem results revealed the deceased, Mr. Fredrick Makeo, had fractured limbs and skull allegedly sustained from repeated blows with a blunt object.
The wife to the deceased Ms. Lucklenzia Kajumwa, said her husband’s death was murder. She wondered why the suspects have not been arrested yet the evidence pointed to deliberate beatings that killed her husband.
“Two weeks have elapsed since the murder yet no one has been arrested. What is happening?” asked the mother of four.
Reports say that the deceased had left his home at Mabomani in the outskirts of Voi town on a Friday two weeks ago to visit his rural home in Mwambiti village in Sagalla.
He ended up at his suspected lover’s house in Marungu village in Maungu where he is alleged to have been attacked by the lovers’ sons and stripped naked.
A good Samaritan is said to have given him some clothes before he was rushed to Moi County Referral Hospital. He died on the way to the hospital.
The devastated widow said she received a call the following day that her husband’s body had been received in the mortuary. She called his cell phone and it was answered by the mortuary attendant who confirmed her worst fears.
“I did not know he was having a relationship with the woman. There was no reason to kill him at all,” she said.
She added that the police should have arrested the lover who would shed light on the case as the incident took place in her house.
When contacted, the County Director of Criminal Investigations Henry Chebii said his officers have launched a manhunt for two prime suspects in the murder.
“The woman is cooperating with us and giving us important leads to what transpired. We will soon catch up with her sons,” he said.
By Wagema Mwangi
