[Marani OCPD Benjamin Kimwele in a past event. He has condemned an incident in which several houses were burnt in Marani Sub County. Photo/nation.co.ke]
Irate mourners on Sunday torched seven houses in a revenge attack after a woman was killed by her stepsons over a land dispute in Riabotenene Village, Marani Sub-county, Kisii County.
Matters turned chaotic for members of the homestead after the funeral procession bearing the cortege of the 44 year old widow was brought to her home on Sunday afternoon.
Villagers and mourners descended on the suspects’ homes, broke down doors and windows in the houses before setting them on fire.
The villagers also chased away the occupants of the houses in a frenzy of destruction that saw them remove the roofing from some of the houses. Affected family members have since gone missing fearing further reprisals.
Police who were called spoon after the incident managed to put out the fire with the help of good Samaritans.
According to Marani OCPD Benjamin Kimwele, the torched houses belonged to the homestead occupied by the families of four suspects arrested by police officers after a woman was strangled by two of her step sons.
Tabitha Barongo, a 40 year old mother of two, was dragged from her house in Riabotenene Village, Nyabworoba sub location, Sensi Location by unidentified persons before being strangled at an unknown place.
Her body was later found dumped along the road in the neighboring Samogara Village, about 2 kilometers away.
“We received a report from the assistant chief of Nyabworoba sub location Mr Moses Onkware that the body of a woman had been discovered lying along a footpath in a village 2 kilometres away from her home. The body had strangulation marks around the neck,” said County Police Commander Agnes Mudambi.
According to Mr Onkware, the deceased was attacked by two men at around 10 p.m. in her home on March 12, 2017.
“As they struggled with the deceased, they also strangled her four year old daughter who lost consciousness before they threw her body under the bed. She later regained managed to escape from the scene and run to a friend’s home about 500 meters away from the scene,” said Mr Onkware.
The minor related the events that had transpired to her mother’s friend, who then notified the administrator.
“I rushed to the team with a group comprising of community policing members from the village. By the time we arrived, the assailants had left with the woman,” said Mr Onkware.
A search of the area yielded no answers, forcing the group to seek for help from neighbouring villages.
“Later, we were told that an unidentified woman fitting the description of the deceased had been found strangled near a footpath in the neighbouring Samogara village,” Mr Onkware told Nation.co.ke.
During the recording of her statement with the police, the minor positively identified one of the attackers as a nephew to the deceased. Police arrested him along with four other suspects in Homa Bay and Kitale respectively.
Officers have since taken the minor into protective custody where she is helping them with investigations
“We have the minor in custody for protective purposes so as to prevent interested parties from interfering with the investigations. She is an important eye witness who identified the assailants behind her mother’s death,” said Mr Kimwele
The body was moved to Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital morgue awaiting postmortem.
It was during yesterday’s procession to her home for last rites that mayhem ensued.
“The three families have not been on good terms, with several deaths that have occurred here being blamed on the row over the land, a witness,” Mr Fred Asuma said.
He said the three families have been squabbling over their ancestral land since the death of Mzee Abere Monyancha, who had subdivided the land prior to his death in 2012.
“Apparently, some family members were dissatisfied with the size of the land they got, leading to the disputes that has culminated in the death of Tabitha,” said Mr Asuma.
Sensi Location Chief Mr Enas Ateka said there has been a long-running dispute over land between the family of Mzee Abere Monyancha who died leaving behind his land for his three wives and their children.
He however would not be drawn into discussing the matter, saying some of the deaths in the family could be attributed to natural causes.
"We are not ready at this point to speculate on all the deaths in the family as having been cause by the land dispute since doing so would be alarmist. Some, like Mzee Abere, died of natural causes, which is illness in his case,” he said.
He confirmed that the five suspects held in connection with the widow’s death will soon be charged in court. Mr Kimwele called on residents to avoid taking the law into their own hands when wronged, saying the law did not allow it.
"Let us desist from burning houses and suchlike acts of mob justice since it is not all the people whose houses were torched who are guilty of being accomplices in the crime," he said..