Angry villagers lynch man accused of defiling, killing two girls

A man was today lynched in Ivumbu village, Makueni County, after reportedly defiling and killing two girls.

According to neighbours, Charles Musembi, a 34-year-old farmhand strangled the minors, aged nine and six before locking their bodies inside his living room.

Musembi is said to have gone to pick the two girls, who are cousins, from their home yesterday morning when their uncle, who was unwell, was asleep.

A family member later started a hunt for the man who was said to have visited the home when the girls disappeared.

It was after the search that the lifeless bodies of the two were found under the suspect’s bed.

The incident was confirmed by Makueni police commander Joseph Ole Napeiyan.

“We found him in the nearby market and when he denied knowing the girls’ whereabouts, we frogmarched him to the house, which was locked. We found that he had defiled and killed the girls,” said Mutiso Kaloki, a neighbour.

A family member identified only as Virginia said that Musembi was heard talking to the girls in the morning. She described him as a lonely man who had barely worked in their neighbour’s home for a month.

“When we caught up with him at the nearby shopping centre, he denied having seen the two minors and if it were not for the members of the public, we wouldn’t have known where he had kept them,” said Virginia.

Some neighbours said the man may have been under the influence of drugs when he commited the act.

“We need to have a village which is free from drugs. The suspect seems to have committed this heinous act under influence of drugs,” said Titus Musyoka, a youth leader in the area.

Police officers were overpowered by irate members of the public who stoned the suspect to death before setting his body ablaze.

“Some of the officers sustained bruises as they tried to protect the suspect but they were overwhelmed and the suspect was killed and his body burnt with handcuffs still on his hands,” said Mutiso.

Neighbours said the man was staying alone in the home whose owners live in Nairobi.

The body of the suspect was taken to Makueni Referral Hospital morgue while bodies of the two minors were taken to Tawa Health Facility morgue.