A 75-year-old granny was burnt to death on Wednesday morning in her two-bedroom house at Kithangathini village in Mbooni East, Makueni county.
Her family blamed two unknown men for the tragedy. The mother of seven was burnt beyond recognition. The house also caught fire and the roof caved in. Her 13-year-old granddaughter escaped with slight burns on her hand.
Mbooni East subcounty police commander Agnes Omajong said they had launched investigations.
"We are yet to establish whether the fire was accidental or it was caused by somebody with intent to kill," she said.
The family said the granddaughter, a Standard 7 pupil at Kithangathini Primary School, witnessed her grandmother being tied with a rope as she struggled to free herself. She then fell unconscious, was doused with petrol and set on fire in her bed.
Her lastborn Munyao Kinyumu said the girl narrated to them how the two men threw her out of the house as the fire intensified.
"She ran screaming towards her brother's house where she alerted his wife, who then alerted neighbours," Munyao said.
When people arrived at the scene, the fire had spread and it was difficult to get in to save her. "The whole house was on fire by the time we arrived. We couldn't help my mother-in-law as the fire had engulfed the who house," a family member said.
The family called for a thorough investigation so the arsonists are brought to book. The body was taken to the Makueni Level -4 Hospital mortuary.
