For the better part of Wednesday morning, a mob of women, men, and children engaged police in running battles, demanding that the suspect be released to them.
Pandemonium ensued on Wednesday, July 10 when an angry mob stormed a police station in Kigumo, Murang’a County and overpowered police defences before killing a murder suspect who was held in police custody.
According to reports, the villagers who were enraged by the alleged murder, descended on Gachocho police station in the county after learning that a murder suspect accused of killing his brother on Tuesday night had been locked up there.
For the better part of Wednesday morning, a mob of women, men, and children engaged police in running battles, demanding that the suspect be released to them.
Police officers deployed to contain the mob lobbed tear gas and used rubber bullets, but tear gas ran out after a long-running battle.
Here is the video:
Angry Murang’a residents storm Gachocho Police Station, vandalise police vehicles and kill a suspected murderer in police custody after being accused of killing his own brother#ViralVideos pic.twitter.com/5bjvVV4g68
— Viral Tea Ke (@ViralTeaKe) July 10, 2024
The mob eventually overpowered the police, pelting their landcruisers with stones, according to a video seen by Viral Tea. They then broke into the cells and flushed out the suspect before beating him to death.
The deceased, accused of killing his own brother, had been in police custody awaiting further investigation and was said to have plotted with his other brother to murder their sibling.
The police were yet to release an official statement on the matter, leaving the community and the nation in suspense. Such incidents show the dark side of not just sibling but family murders that have left the country in shock.
On June 2, 2023, the Kakamega High Court found 27-year-old Milton Namatsi guilty of murdering famous AFC Leopards and Harambee Stars fan, Isaac Juma. Namatsi, a relative of the deceased was the coach of Musejere FC and was popularly known as Maji.
Juma was 58 years old at the time of his death and was hacked to death at his home in Bukaya village on January 27, 2022, by people believed to be his relatives.
In May this year, in the Teso North area of Busia, a man accused of killing his brother in a dispute over funeral meat distribution was lynched by a mob days after the incident.
The victim, James Ocharo, aged 57, was dragged from his hideout and brutally killed by villagers seeking retribution.
These incidents underscore a broader issue of violent crime in Kenya. The National Police Service’s economic survey for 2023 reported 1,942 murders in 2022.
With a population of approximately 50.6 million, this equates to a murder rate of about four people per 100,000.
