•Tom had earlier narrated to the court how his mother pleaded with the killers to spare her life in vain.
•Efforts by his brother to rescue her from the attackers failed after he was subdued.
Image: ANGWENYI GICHANA
Two brothers narrated to the court how their elderly mother was killed on suspicion of being a witch in Kisii county.
Peter Monari and Tom Onkware told Judge Rose Ougo in Kisii that their mother Sigara Onkware, 93, was hacked to death using crude weapons.
They said she was killed at her home before being dragged for two kilometres aways where he r body was torched.
Monari, who gave his evidence on Wednesday morning, said he identified two of the nine suspects who killed his mother.
He said that a week before she was killed, she visited her grandson who was unwell and suspects that this was the beginning of her woes .
The grandson, a minor, is the second accused.
Image: ANGWENYI GICHANA
He said the first accused, Amos Nyakundi alias Sonko, led the group which attacked her mother with jembes and pangas.
“They found me picking coffee and proceeded to my mother’s house which made me suspect that something was wrong," he said.
"When I asked them if they had an issue with my family, they said they only wanted my mother."
At the home, the mother was with Tom when the suspects arrived.
“After a brief confrontation, my mother asked his grandson why he was accusing her of using black magic and that is when they descended on her,” he said.
Efforts by his brother to rescue her from the attackers failed after he was subdued.
He said: "The group insisted that my mother and three other elderly women bewitched the grandson. When my brother tried to defend our mother he was beaten and collapsed and the group killed our mother," Monari told the court.
"After hitting her with a hoe, she collapsed, the group tore her clothes before torching her," he added.
Tom had earlier narrated to the court how his mother pleaded with the killers to spare her life in vain.
Those facing the charges of killing the women on October 17, 2021, are Amos Nyakundi, Peter Gwaro, Brian Nyakundi, Ronald Ombati, Justine Morara, Hesborn Ong’ondi, Nelson Tumbo and Justine Akiya.
They are accused of killing Jemima Mironga ,63, Agnes Ototo ,53, Sigara Onkware, 93, and Sindege Mayaka, 85, at Nyagonyi village, Mbanda location Marani subcounty.
Ougo adjourned the case until May 17-19, after prosecutor Hillary Kaino said seven of the suspects who are lined up to give evidence are still being processed by the Witness Protection Unit.
The judge declined a request by the defence to scatter the days saying criminal cases should be heard expeditiously.
She further added that, this being an election year, her court might be gazette to hear election petitions from August.
(Edited by Tabnacha O)