A policeman has been killed by a mob in a Ndhiwa constituency village after he was spotted with a suspected criminal.
Felix Yegon was stoned to death on Wednesday evening in Kalwal village. He was attached to Kobama police post in Kwabwai.
Yegon was with his colleague, William Ngeiywa, and another person whom the villagers accused of being a thug.
The officers are said to have accompanied the suspect, who is from Pala Koguta village, to look for his wife who went to Kalwal after a fight.
The officers were in civilian clothing.
Witnesses said the villagers were looking for the man because he disappeared after he attacked and seriously injured a woman with a panga last month in Sibuoche, a nearby village.
“The suspect is notorious because he has been attacking and robbing residents. The officers were attacked and one killed because residents thought they were his accomplices,” a witness said.
Area chief Joseph Oteng' said wananchi grew wild after the three men confronted some residents.
He said the residents surrounded the three and started beating them with stones and wooden objects. The officers fired in the air but the residents would not disperse.
Ngeiywa was rescued after he hid in a nearby home. “Ngeiywa and the suspect escaped but Yegon, who remained behind, was stoned to death,” Oteng' said.
A pistol and a magazine loaded with seven bullets were recovered.
Oteng’ said two motorcycles believed to have been used by the officers and the suspect were burnt.
“The matter is with Ndhiwa police for investigation. The mob threw the body in a nearby shrub,” he said.
Homa Bay county police commander Esther Seroney said investigations are ongoing.
“We’ll interrogate some of members of the public and the suspected criminal to know exactly happened,” she said.
Edited by Josephine M. Mayuya