[Kisii Police Commander Agnes Mudambi in a past event. She has confirmed an incident in which a man killed dad following a quarrel over forth wife. Photo/Hivisasa.com]
A man on Wednesday hacked his father to death in Nyakembene, Gucha South sub-county, Kisii County after a disagreement over his decision to marry a fourth wife.
Kii County Police Commander Ms Agnes Mudambi told the Nation that the suspect had gone to his father’s homestead when the incident occurred.
“The suspect had visited his father at his home where they got into a heated argument over his decision to marry a fourth wife. Family members who were present said the father was against it because the suspect owns a small piece of land,” said Ms Mudambi.
She said the suspect then took a machete and struck his father three times on the head, killing him instantly.
Family members then called police officers attached to Nyamarambe Police Station to the scene and they took the suspect, Thomas Onchari, into custody.
“When my officers arrived at the scene of crime, they found the suspect standing next to his father’s body. He did not resist arrest,” said Ms Mudambi.
A bloodied machete was recovered from the scene as evidence. The body of the late Ezekiel Mbuya has been moved to Tabaka Mission Hospital awaiting postmortem.
We will arraign the suspect in court for the offence as soon as investigations into the incident are completed, said the police boss.
Distraught relatives expressed their shock at the incident, saying it was an unexpected development.
“We were not expecting he would do something like this since he has always been a reserved and silent individual,” said Ms Teresa Bosibori, a cousin to the suspect.
Ms Mudambi called on residents to exercise restraint when engaging in arguments with others, saying the law would not exonerate them for committing crimes out of anger.
“No one is exempted from the law, whether the criminal act was motivated by extreme anger or not. Please exercise restraint and avoid committing crimes in an attempt to solve disputes,” she said.