Double tragedy as boy kills self, father is burnt alive inside their house

Good Friday turned tragic for a family in Gitumbi Village in Kirinyaga Central Sub-County after a son committed suicide and his father was burnt alive by a mob.

Daniel Macharia, 16, the second born child of Stanley Kanyoro, is said to have committed suicide due to domestic problems. He took his own life on Thursday.

In a cruel twist of fate, his father, a court clerk based at the Muranga Law Courts was killed in a house fire that was started on Friday by a mob who were angered by his decision to block the burial of his son.

Kanyoro, 45, is reported to have sworn Macharia’s body would not be buried within his shamba since he and the boy's mother were separated many years ago.

Witnesses said he was infuriated by the news that mourners had gathered to organise the teenager’s burial and rushed to the home while armed with an axe and started chasing them away.

On Sunday, Taziana Wanjiru, a witness, recounted to the press how Kanyoro was informed through a phone call by his wife that mourners were gathering at his late mother’s homestead to plan for Macharia’s burial.

“After chasing the mourners away, they immediately regrouped and turned against Kanyoro who ran away and locked himself inside the house,” Wanjiru said.

She said the infuriated mourners on demanding that Kanyoro opens the door and come out, become arrogant and started hurling insults at them at which point they threw petrol bombs inside the house which exploded into a huge fire.

Area residents said the teenager was the sole bread winner after his elder brother Michael Muchiri got bed ridden following a boda boda accident while his sister was too young to undertake manual jobs.

The three children, according to a resident, were left under the care of a sickly grandmother who has since passed on.

James Mwai said some of the mourners climbed onto the roof top and removed two iron sheets before throwing some petrol bombs through the opening, exploding into huge flames.

By the time fire fighters arrived, Kanyoro had already been burnt beyond recognition.

Also destroyed was property of an unknown value which was inside his house.

The residents blamed Kanyoro for having punished the three children he sired with the first wife whose whereabouts remain unknown.

The residents said they were now confused as where to start since Kanyoro’s younger wife also fled from the home and was likely to have gone back to her parents in Muranga County.