A man was on Tuesday night lynched by a mob after allegedly killing his elderly mother in Ihumbu village in Maragua, Murang’a county.
According to a police report seen by The Star, Charles Ngige, 40, had buried his mother Margaret Wairimu’s body in a shallow grave and covered it with a heap of manure just near her doorstep.
He was released from prison last Friday after completing a 15-year jail term for threatening to assault and rape the mother.
Ngige’s brother Phares Kamande told the police that he arrived home at 10pm from work and asked him the whereabouts of their mother.
Ngige lied that she had gone to visit her friends in the village.
But Kamande got suspicious when he found the door to her house open and household items strewn all over.
He then came upon a pile of manure outside her house and was warned by Ngige not to touch it for unspecified reasons.
Kamande proceeded to neighbouring homes searching for her before calling Ihumbu assistant chief to report the matter.
The police said Kamande then went to Ihumbu shopping centre where a group of locals accompanied him back home to help remove the manure, prompting Ngige to confront them as he made attempts to flee.
After the body was recovered underneath the manure, Ngige tried running away but was cornered and lynched.
Kamande told journalists that he had spent half the day with his brother and even made lunch for him.
“He seemed anxious but I did not want to provoke him. He was lazy and liked it when people did things for him. He wanted to be allowed to take anything he wanted without being asked.”
He added that since Ngige was released last Friday, the family lived in apprehension because of the bad blood between him and their mother.
Maragua assistant county commissioner Joshua Okello said it was assumed that Ngige had reformed after his jail term but that he seemed to have held onto anger against his mother for reporting him.
“He has committed this heinous act just days after leaving prison. It seems he had the intentions of exerting revenge,” the administrator said.
Police said Wambui’s body had blood oozing from the mouth and the scene was processed accordingly before the bodies of mother and sone were taken to Murang’a county morgue awaiting autopsy.
