A Seventeen-year-old candidate in the just concluded Kenya Certificate of Secondary School Education (KCSE) examination was killed on Saturday evening at Sigalagala market in Butere on suspicion of stealing a phone.
The late student, Rodgers Bett, was schooling at Burendwa Secondary School in Kakamega County.
Beatrice Khalenya, the mother of the deceased, was saddened by the death of her son.
“They killed my son claiming he is a thief and that’s not true. He had just finished sitting his KCSE exams and we knew he was going to uplift the family in future but that dream has been cut short. We are not happy with what the mob did to our son,” she said
Ms Khalenya, however, holds that her son's death at the hand of the angry mob was a case of mistaken identity.
It was a painful experience for the bereaved family as they had to endure the torture of witnessing their loved one being killed.
“The mob threatened to ‘discipline’ us like our brother if we dared stand on their way while discharging their duties. The mob was led by Nyumba Kumi officials to kill our brother. It’s very unfortunate to lose a young man prematurely,” Rosemary Khayeshe, sister to the deceased, said.
A lost phone is alleged to have been located at the deceased's house hence attracting the beating from the mob.
Efforts to rush the late Bett to Kakamega County Teaching and Referral Hospital were futile as he died from the injuries that he had sustained.