A Embu boy, 16, led police in the search and recovery of the body of his four-year-old cousin he allegedly murdered and drank his blood in a suspected ritual sacrifice.
The Standard 8 pupil on Wednesday led detectives to River Thuci where they recovered the body of Brayden Mutwiri. It had decomposed beyond recognition after remaining in water for weeks. Mutwiri went missing in late December from his home in Kavengero, Mbeere North.
The suspect and one of his accomplices were arrested on Monday and held at Siakago police station. He directed the police to the river where the body was found stuck between two rocks.
Speaking to the press at the scene, their uncle Nephat Nyaga said the suspect narrated how he and his accomplices murdered the boy, drank his blood, then threw his body into the river.
The suspect and his accomplices lured the boy as he played at home and took him to the river.
Area chief Charles Njeru told the press that the boy mysteriously disappeared from home in late December and residents had been searching for him since.
Njeru said the bereaved family will have to wait for the postmortem result to ascertain that the body is Mutwiri's.
The local administrator said this was the second incident of a missing child being found dead in the river. The first was a girl who went missing and her body retrieved from the river three months ago.
Njeru cautioned residents against settling their family grudges by attacking and killing children, urging them instead to follow the legal procedures of resolving disputes.
Residents condemned the killing and called for quick investigations so the killers are brought to book.
Purity Muringo said parents from the area now live in fear for the security of their schoolchildren. She said lives are at stake. Muringo called for thorough investigations to unravel the mysterious killings of innocent children.