A middle-aged man in Kisumu was Saturday morning beaten and burnt to death after he allegedly attempted to steal a motorcycle boda boda in Kibuye Market.
Witnesses of the 9 AM incident said the unknown man come out of nowhere and mounted one of the bikes whose owner runs a stall at the market and had gone into the market for supplies.
"The man claimed he had been sent to get the bike by its owner. However, the owner's wife was watching over the bike and confronted the man, who tried to forcefully take away the bike," said a witness.
The squabble later drew the attention of other riders who intervened by questioning the man.
“He could not say who had sent him and he was not clear on whom he was. So people started beating him,” said one witness Victor Jaramba, a rider.
Another one said: “As they started beating him, he said he was a rider based in Kondele but he could not name any other person with whom he worked. The mob accused him of intending to steal the bike and the beat him senseless and set him on fire.”
Riders in the area lamented that cases of stolen motorcycles had gone up, something that now poses a threat to their businesses and livelihoods.
Police took the body to Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital.