Kisumu couple burnt to death in suspected case of arson

Residence at the scene where a couple was burnt to death in a house at Canaan estate in Kisumu. [PHOTO: COLLINS ODUOR/STANDARD]

BY KEVINE OMOLLO

KISUMU, KENYA: A couple was burnt beyond recognition in their house at Canaan Estate in Kisumu County.

Bodies of George Ochieng, 49, and Florence Odero, 46, were lying on the floor of their sitting room, two meters away from each other at 9.00 Monday in what is suspected to be arson.

Florence worked at the Ministry of Lands, Kisumu office while the husband is said to have been a taxi driver.

Witnesses said they heard screams from the compound at around 7 in the morning and within a few minutes the house was on fire.

David Okello, a neighbour who was among the first people to access the scene said the couple had a fight before the fire was seen.

He said there was commotion and when they listened at the gate it sounded like a fight.

“The gate was closed so we jumped through the fence into the compound only to find blaze,” he said.

He said two ladies who were staying with the couple were rescued when the neighbours broke the window as the door was locked from inside.

The couple is said to have been in constant wrangles for a long time and neighbours have been baffled as they had just moved into the new building in the new neighbourhood recently.

A friend to the late Florence said Florence had called her on several occasions to tell her how the man has been beating her over domestic issues and she was in dilemma on whether to quit the marriage or stay.

Kisumu North OCPD Peter Omanwa said the woman seemed to have been strangled to death before the man set fire.

He said Ochieng had locked the two ladies aged 16 and 18 in their bedroom when the fight broke up, and that is when he killed Florence.

“The ladies said they saw the man pour petrol on the body of the woman and on him before starting the fire,” he said.

He said quarrels started between the couples a night before the terrible incident and the man moved out at around 2.00 in the night.

He went back to the house at 6.00 in the morning and parked his car outside the compound before getting into the compound.

The two bodies were taken to New Nyanza Provincial Mortuary as police commence investigations into the incident.

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