Five-year-old boy murdered, body dumped on roadside in Mathare slums

Mystery surrounds the macabre killing of a five-year-old boy whose body was found dumped on the roadside along Juja Road, Nairobi.

The body of the boy had been wrapped in a sack and abandoned on the roadside near Kiboro Primary School when locals discovered it Tuesday.

The boy seems to have been strangled elsewhere and later dumped at the scene, police said. His tongue was protruding from the mouth while blood was oozing from his ears, police who visited the scene said.

Nairobi police boss Philip Ndolo said they are yet to identify the boy. He added they are eager to establish the motive behind the murder of the boy.

"It seems to be murder and we want to establish more," he said.

Elsewhere, police are investigating an incident in which a decomposing human body was found in Karura Forest, Nairobi.

The body had been placed between two trees and was decomposing when a group that was collecting firewood found it, police said.

They later alerted forest officials taking care of the forest who called the police to pick it. The body was moved to the mortuary as probe into the incident goes on. Preliminary findings did not show the man had marks anywhere on his body. Police said they are yet to identify the middle-aged man.

And two suspected thugs were Tuesday evening shot dead in a clash with police in Nairobi’s Westlands in a botched robbery on motorists.

The suspects are said to have been attacking and robbing road users along Waiyaki Way near Brookside area when police were alerted. Witnesses said the group had tried to attack two white motorists while in a traffic jam when an alarm was raised.

Police say they recovered stolen property from the suspects. The bodies were moved to the mortuary.

Yesterday, police said they have intensified patrols in the city to tame incidents of robberies.