Man accused of beating, strangling son to death for helping neighbour

Joshua Kibet before Justice Samuel Mohochi at Nakuru High Court. [Yvonne Chepkwony, Standard]

In the Nakuru High Court, a seven-year-old boy has recounted the brutal murder of his brother by their father, witnessed by him and his other siblings.

The child informed Justice Samuel Mohochi that his father, Joshua Kibet, had struck his brother with a hoe stick before strangling him to death.

Kibet is on trial for the murder of Abel Kiprono, his 10-year-old son, which occurred in Free Area estate, Nakuru County, on November 15, 2023.

He allegedly killed his son for helping a neighbour scoop sand into a wheelbarrow.

Helping hand

The child testified, "We had just finished our breakfast, and our mother had left for work. My brother and I decided to play marbles outside when a friend taking sand to their plot using a wheelbarrow asked us to assist him. Suddenly, our father came and found us."

The court heard that the father had called his children into the house and started beating them while threatening to harm their limbs and put them in wheelchairs.

"My father told us to sit on the bed while still castigating us, and I assured him that we shall be obedient. He then beat us again with a club on the legs before ordering us to sit on the bed. We pretended to sleep, but he told us to wake up. I woke up; Kiprono did not," he said.

The boy testified that the father hit Kiprono for the third time on the leg, forcing him to wake up.

"He ordered us both out of the bed and sleep on the floor, which we did. But he continued with his beatings," the child said.

Not waking up

It was at this point that the father ordered Kiprono to wake up, but he could not.

"He removed his belt, hit Kiprono twice with it, and then went ahead to use the belt to strangle him," the boy said.

They later went to bed.

"We went to bed. When our mother arrived in the morning, we tried to wake Kiprono up, but he was non-responsive. He had foam on his mouth. Both of us were rushed to the hospital, where Kiprono was pronounced dead," said the child.

Kibet, through his lawyer, has approached the court for a plea bargain deal.

The case will be further heard on March 6.