Three suspects lynched, nine cows recovered by Kericho villagers

At least three suspects were Sunday lynched by a mob in a Chebwagan area, Bureti, Kericho County.

Police said the mob recovered nine cows that had allegedly been stolen from homes in the village in the Sunday January 11 drama.

The drama was a culmination of incidents of stealing of livestock in the area by suspected thieves who drive them away for a ready market.

On Sunday dawn, villagers ganged up after an alarm was raised that a number of cows had been stolen and were being driven in a lorry. They blocked the lorry and pelted the driver with stones before he lost its control and it landed in a ditch in the chaos.

The villagers rescued the nine cows that were on board before they set the lorry on fire. They then turned on three suspects who were on board including a woman and stoned them to death, police said.

Police arrived at the scene and found the three charred remains and cows with the owners ready to take them away.

The wreckage of the lorry was moved to the local Cheplanget police station pending an investigation as the bodies were moved to the mortuary pending an autopsy.

Police confirmed they had received at least four cases of livestock stealing in the area.

Locals complained they had been losing their livestock to thieves in a worrying trend.

This prompted their latest actions. Police discourage mob lynching and want suspects to be surrendered to authorities for processing.

Police said they were investigating murder and arson in the incident even as locals remained adamant and blamed police for failing to help them in the issue.

Police said there has been a rise in cattle rustling incidents in the area amid efforts to solve the reported cases. Most thieves arrive in salon cars and lorries that they use in their mission.

It has also been established that the thieves are mostly locals where the incidents happen.

They survey homes to know where the cows are before they organize for the mission, police say.