A Kitui man who hacked his middle-aged girlfriend with a machete over Sh11,500 has died after angry residents attacked him in retaliation.
Mutati Mwaniki from Kiima village in Kamuwongo division of Kyuso subcounty, allegedly killed Mary Nzambi, a mother of eight, by stabbing and slashing her severally with a panga in the wee hours of Wednesday.
Although he went into hiding after the heinous act, he was on Thursday cornered by residents who attacked him. Mwaniki died as he was being taken to hospital.
Kamuwongo area chief, Mary Mwende confirmed that the suspect succumbed as he was taken to Mwingi Level IV hospital.
The chief said Mwaniki was living with Nzambi as her girlfriend for a long while and they had a child together. She said the woman’s husband was long dead.
“I was informed that Mwaniki was bitter with Nzambi after she denied him access to the Sh11,500 monthly support from Red Cross Society and he threatened to eliminate her," the chief said.
She explained that since Nzambi had initially used Mwaniki's mobile phone to receive monthly cash transfer support from Red Cross.
Mwende said differences between the two arose when Nzambi changed her mind and registered her own phone number to receive the funds directly.
“When it became clear to Mwaniki that he will no longer receive the money through his phone, he turned against his girlfriend and threatened to teach her a lesson,” the chief said.
Armed with a sharp machete, Mwaniki visited Nzambi's home at around 2 am on Wednesday morning and hacked her to death, the chief said.
“Soon after Nzambi opened the door and walked out, Mwaniki pounced on her with a panga cutting her several times on the head and on the neck," Mwende said.
“He then fled even as Std 6 girl who was living with Nzambi raised the alarm."
She added that by the time residents responded to Nzambi's cry for help, her body was lying in a pool of blood.
Police later arrived and took the body to Kyuso Level 4 morgue as a manhunt was launched for Mwaniki.
“The Kyandoo assistant chief, Richard Muthengi within whose jurisdiction the incident occurred, mobilised members of the public to search for the suspected killer in the neighbourhood and arrested him on Thursday,” Mwende said.
The chief said as Mwaniki was being guarded waiting for police to come and pick him up members of the public became rowdy and pounced on him.
“At some point, the public threatened to lynch the assistant chief who fled leaving the suspect on his own. They then descended on him with stones and sticks,” Mwende said.
Mwende said by the time the police arrived the suspect had been already beaten to a pulp and he was unconscious.
The badly injured suspect was first taken to Kyuso Level 4 hospital but died as he was being taken to Mwingi Level 4 Hospital for specialised treatment, the chief said.
Elsewhere a theft suspect was on Friday morning was lynched to death by an angry mob at Mutuati in Igembe North, Meru.
The irate residents stoned the man said to have been a notorious thief who had formed a gang that was terrorising them.
“There is a knife-wielding gang that has been stealing handbags from women and motorcycles. We are now happy over the increased security by Nyumba Kumi members," Shadrack Mutwiri, a resident said.
"Security is now tight because earlier you could not walk alone at 8 pm. The thieves would snatch everything you had.”
He said insecurity had become part and parcel of their daily life their goats, chickens, or other domestic animals were not spared.
Mutwiri said the ten-member gang also invaded their farms at will and harvested their miraa crop.
Area Nyumba Kumi chairperson Stephen Kamendo said the suspect was a well-known criminal but he urged residents not to take the law into their own hands.
“Today in the morning I got a report resident had lynched a renowned thief who has been terrorising the people of Mutuati,” Kamendo said.
“Despite responding quickly to save him, the mob had already killed him. We advise people not to take the law into their hands. We also plead with those who think stealing is a job to stop and engage in honest labour to earn a living,” he said.
Imaana, area Nyumba Kumi secretary said their preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect was caught red-handed with stolen goods an occurrence that angered residents who torched him using a car tyre.