A Muslim cleric in Garissa county died after a man, baying for his blood on suspicion that he was having an affair with his wife, ambushed and stabbed him while he taught at a madrasa.
The enraged man stormed the class armed with a sword.
The youthful sheikh, who was also an imam, bled to death before the students he was teaching Qur’anic lessons.
Witnesses told KNA that confusion reigned at Duksi (madrassa) school when the furious man, whose identity was withheld for legal reasons, ambushed the unsuspecting cleric before drawing the concealed murder weapon.
Reports on the tragedy indicated the suspected murderer, in the company of a brother, got wind of the alleged extramarital affair and picked a quarrel with the wife, and then, in a fit of fury, headed to the Islamic school to confront the cleric.
The duo is reported to have attacked the helpless imam, who was stabbed several times despite the pleading of the helpless children.
The clothes of some of the learners were spattered with the blood of their religious teacher, who bled to death right before their eyes as the two attackers fled.
Masalani OCS Joseph Mulanda confirmed the incident, saying investigations were launched to document the circumstances under which the cleric was killed.
He said the body of the deceased imam, whose name could not be revealed until the next of kin were informed, was taken to Masalani hospital for processing of an autopsy report before release for burial in accordance with Islamic tradition.
Mulanda said various agencies were alerted to track down the suspected killers, who were on the run and had reportedly fled into the nearby Boni forest after butchering the hapless clergyman.
The deceased was later laid to rest at Masalani Muslim cemetery in Ijara. Local chief Ahmed Yarrow, who was among the first people at the scene of the grisly crime, said the children at the Islamic school could not help their teacher and were left traumatised by the attack.
He confirmed that the 25-year-old imam died on the spot after his throat was slit with a sharp object during the attack that many villagers claimed was a case of a love triangle.
Locals confided to KNA that the youthful wife of the suspected killer, presumed to be almost twice her age, had been secretly seeing the deceased with whom they had a previous affair before she was betrothed to her elderly husband.
Relatives confirmed that the mitrust between the couple, who had two children, had degenerated into a frosty relationship, and at one time the husband had threatened to divorce the woman over claims of infidelity.
The estranged wife of the suspected killer fled her matrimonial home on learning that her husband was on the run after killing her alleged lover in cold blood.
Meanwhile, tension remained high in manyattas affected after the highly emotional mourners finalised the burial rites of the Islamic teacher, amid plans by elders from the rival communities to amicably settle the murder case outside the court in accordance with traditional Somali justice mechanisms.
Village diplomatic channels were abuzz with emissaries shuttling between the two camps to find ways of settling for a maslah elder’s court.
