.Suspect is said to have killed boy and dumped his body in a maize plantation
.Irate members of the public who wanted to lynch the man pelted officers with stones
Image: FILE
Police in Makueni on Monday night shot in the air to disperse irate members of the public who wanted to lynch a 23 –year-old man suspected to have murdered a four – year-old boy in Kilungu subcounty.
Subcounty police commander Kepkemboi Kipkulei said the body of the boy, a relative to the suspect who is an ex-convict, was discovered in a maize plantation within their home near Nunguni market.
Kipkulei said the body had bruises on the neck, an indication he could have been strangled.
He said the suspect who was released from jail on December 6 last year confessed to have murdered the boy following a family row.
“We suspect the boy was strangled and that is what the suspect has confessed to us,” Kipkulei said.
Irate members of the public who were baying for the suspect’s blood pelted police with stones during his arrest.
They destroyed part of his house.
“The man is just a suspect and so it was our responsibility to ensure his safety. We employed all the tactics including shooting in the air to scare the angry bob who wanted to lynch him,” the police boss said.
After the rescue, the suspect was locked up at Kilome police station as police probed the incident.
Speaking to the Star, Paul Muiu, the deceased’s father, said the boy who was his second born was to join Baby Class on Tuesday.
He said he left his son with his elder brother and other children playing at home and went to the market but on return he found the boy missing.
“When I returned home, my son was not with the other children and when I asked them where he was, they told me he had gone with the suspect,” said Muiu, a father of two.
When he questioned, the suspect denied knowing of the child's whereabouts.
The body of the boy was later discovered in their maize farm and taken to Kilungu mortuary.
Muiu who described the suspect who, a nephew, as a drug addict said all he wanted was justice for his son.
“He is a trouble maker and a drunkard who is ever away from home and whenever he comes home it is only at night,” he said.
According to the local authorities, the suspect was arrested near Nunguni secondary school in possession of a container with petrol in January last year, an incident they said led to his conviction by the court.