Bomet town residents are living in fear of a mysterious creature or humans in a cult who devour flesh, gouge out eyes and tear off ears - all in the same spot next to a church.
The monster or monsters have mauled three people, killing one and leaving two with horrific injuries.
The latest attack was on Tuesday, the two other attacks occurred in September last year over two weeks. One man died.
On Wednesday residents staged a protest, milled around the attack site next to Kings Outreach Church not far from Bomet town.
Then they barricaded the Bomet-Kaplong highway and demanded answers from security officials.
OIC Bomet Central subcounty Musa Imamai said police are treating the attacks as cult-related.
He said the three cases were unusual since the creature or whatever kind of attacker targets specific body parts - ears and eyes - possibly for rituals.
"Security officers will soon get to the bottom of it," he said.
In Tuesday's attack, a man had his left ear ripped off, his eyes gouged out and his knee mauled. He had been stripped naked and his clothes were torn apart.
He was rushed to Tenwek Mission Hospital in critical condition.
Witnesses had seen the man before he was attacked. They said he appeared to be tipsy and was sitting on the roadside leading to his Cheboing’ong home off the main highway. The site is a few metres from where the last two attacks occurred.
“The driver of a passing lorry spotted a naked body lying on the road and raised the alarm," a watchman at a nearby residential estate said. Residents rushed to the scene and took the man to hospital.
In the two earlier cases, victims of same ethnic group had their ears torn off and their eyes plucked out. They had deep gashes to their thighs and suffered other injuries.
On Wednesday, police had a rough time controlling the angry residents who milled around at the scene before barricading the highway.
“There are Covid-19 measures so we don't want to continue this meeting," Bomet deputy OCS Paul Tanui told residents.
"If anyone knows or has any information, kindly come forward and tell us," he told the crowd.
MCA Robert Serbai urged the police to expedite investigations so that the residents can live without fear.
(Edited by V. Graham)
