The nine family members who perished in a suspected arson attack in Ugunja, Siaya County were laid to rest Friday in an emotional event.
They were buried in a mass grave amid calls for justice and calm in the area.
The man, his wife, and their seven children were asleep when their house was set ablazeby unknown individuals on April 23 this year in Sigomere village, Siaya County.
The final send-off of Richard Ouma Opondo, his wife, and seven children unfolded on Friday in Upanda village, Siaya County, in a ceremony steeped in griet and raw emotion.
The two siblings, the only survivors, had been away during the suspected arson attack. While the eldest son was at a college in Nairobi, his younger sister was away in Sidindi visiting her maternal grandmother, a decision that now feels touched by fate.
They were killed over a land dispute in the area.
They had won a court case over the land when the assailant resorted to killing them.
The prime suspect behind a tragic arson attack, Christopher Okello Owino, aged 56, was arrested.
He was apprehended on April 24 at Kianda area in Kibra, Nairobi.
He had reportedly gone into hiding after learning that detectives were pursuing him.
According to authorities, detectives received a tip-off about Owino’s presence in the area just hours after the horrific fire incident in Sigomere that wiped out an entire family. Residents who knew Owino raised suspicions after he informed them he had travelled to his rural home on the night of the incident.
The key suspect was transferred back to Ugunja, where the crime occurred, for further interrogation and prosecution.
Owino’s wife was also arrested in Sigomere, Migori County, after police recovered a fuel can believed to have been used to set the blaze.
Detectives have also confiscated the suspect’s phones for forensic analysis as part of efforts to identify and arrest possible accomplices.
Locals descended on the home of the suspects and set it on fire in anger.
Sources close to the investigation revealed that Owino allegedly hired a group of associates and travelled with them to Upanda village in the early morning hours to commit the crime before returning to Nairobi.
The hunt for more suspects is ongoing, police said.
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