Burial of Kirinyaga mother, four children allegedly killed by father stopped

As the man accused of killing his wife and their four children in Kianyaga, Kirinyaga County, awaits murder charges, his victims will not be buried after the court stopped the ceremony today.

A decision had been reached that since Paul Murange Njuki had not paid the bride price, his wife Millicent Muthoni,38, and her children; Nelly Wawira,13, Gifton Bundi,7, Sheromit Wambui,5, and one-year-old Clifton Murage could not be buried on the suspect's land.

Instead, the victims would be buried at the home of Muthoni's parents.

Today, everything was set for the burial of the five when it emerged an uncle to Muthoni had obtained a court order stopping the ceremony.

The uncle is said to have declared that he could not allow the five to be buried on Muthoni's father's land because he considered them strangers.

Muthoni's brother, Patrick Njiru, said: "The burial preparations were at an advanced stage. We wanted to give my sister and her children a decent sendoff when we were slapped with a court order stopping their burial."

"It is surprising that our uncle has referred to my sister and her children as strangers. This is devastating, it is unbelievable. This is adding salt to injury. As we mourn the deaths of our family members, we are also expected to engage in a court battle," said Njiru.

He wondered why their uncle never said anything when he was at the centre of preparations.

"He even went to the mortuary to witness postmortems but said nothing," said Njiru.

The matter will be heard on Tuesday next week.

The suspect Murange, 35, presented himself to Kianyaga Police Station and confessed to killing his family using an axe and a panga.

The man also confessed he sexually assaulted his eldest daughter before hacking her to death.

Murage told the police that he started by killing his wife before turning to his children who were asleep, and took life out of them, one-by-one.

The court allowed the police to detain Murage for 14 days to allow them time to conclude investigations. This was after the investigating officer made a miscellaneous application to hold the suspect to enable him to comply with all requirements before formally charging Murage.

The police said they will need the time to record more statements from witnesses and search for the weapons that the suspect reportedly told them he had thrown into the river after committing the murders.

Kianyaga Law Courts Principal Magistrate Leah Kaberia granted the request and ordered that the suspect be held until December 15 when he will be produced in court.

The magistrate also directed the period should also be used to subject the suspect to mental assessment to find out whether he is fit to stand murder trial.

Kaberia said the suspect’s DNA samples should also be taken for testing. He ordered the police should accord him enough protection from possible mob justice.