A middle-aged man was forced to flee his parental home on Sunday in Mawawa area in Nyamira County after angry residents threatened to lynch him.
Elijah Mokaya, 45, is accused of defiling and wounding a 13-year-old class pupil at Mawawa primary, before again doing the same to another victim from the neighborhood late April but has never been arrested by the police.
On Sunday, devastated villagers walked into his homestead and paraded him out ready to lynch him before they were interrupted by area chief Paul Nyakundi.
After managing to rescue him from the angry mob, the accused managed to flee again from the hands of the police, raising questions about the commitment of the police force in handling crimes.
“We had sieged him and many of the residents were ready to kill him. Victims had positively identified him but the authorities were not ready to take an action despite receiving the report,” said one of the villagers, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to sensitivity of the matter.
However, chief Nyakundi said the suspect had escaped accidentally and denied allegations that authorities were defending criminals.
“He actually escaped accidentally but we are pursuing him since he must face the law. What I would caution residents is taking the law into their own hands because that is against the law. He will for sure be arrested,” he said.