36 year old charged for attempting to kill parents and younger sister

Mr Joseph Ndung'u appears in a Nakuru court on July 20, 2017 charged with three counts of attempted and arson. That on Tuesday night, he burnt down a house where his parents and sister were sleeping in at Wanyororo B in Bahati, Nakuru. He denied all the charges with the court denying him bond following requests by the prosecution. The case will be mentioned on July 24. Photo/Suleiman Mbatiah/Standard

A man accused of attempting to kill his parents and a sister by setting their house on fire following a property dispute was Thursday charged in a Nakuru court.

Joseph Ndung'u, 36, faced three charges of attempted murder.

According to the charge sheet, Mr Ndung'u attempted to kill his father Nathan Waweru, 61, mother Teresia Mugure, 45, and his three-and-a-half-year-old sister Mary Muthoni on Tuesday.

The suspect appeared before Principal Magistrate Bernard Mararo and denied the charges.

Ndung'u is alleged to have locked the three in their house before setting it on fire.

He also faced another charge of arson for setting the house valued at Sh2 million on fire.

Nothing was rescued during the Tuesday night incident.

The court heard that the man allegedly sneaked into his parents' house in Wanyororo B, Bahati sub-county, while they were asleep, doused it in petrol and set it ablaze before disappearing, only to return early Wednesday morning.

The three were rescued by neighbours who responded to their screams.

Ndung'u, who is the second-born of eight, is said to have quarrelled with his father over inheritance of family property.

Allocated land

According to the father, Ndung'u had been allocated a quarter-acre piece of land to develop but he declined, demanding more.

Before the attack, the father had spent the better part of Tuesday at the Ministry of Lands offices in Nakuru trying to resolve the matter.

It is alleged that he had requested a meeting with his son but Ndung'u failed to show up.

The prosecution applied to have the man denied bond, citing that the victims were still traumatised and required State protection.

"We oppose his right to bond. The victims in this matter are relatives – father, mother and sister – of the accused. They are still in trauma hence the compelling reasons to deny him bond. They also require victim protection," stated the prosecution.

The court allowed the prosecution's application.

The case will be mentioned on Monday, when the court will set a hearing date.

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