Two killed in Bondo mob injustice incident after fatal panga attack

Two people died in a violent incident involving a suspected mentally unstable man and an angry mob in Usenge, Bondo, Siaya County, police said.

According to the police, the incident was reported by a local, who informed police that her father, Moses Otieno Atinga, 59, had been attacked and killed.

Police officers visited the scene and established that the suspect, described as an apparently mentally unstable man, had allegedly borrowed a banana before later taking an entire bunch from the complainant’s homestead.

When confronted and asked to return the bananas, the man reportedly picked up a panga he had been using to cut sugarcane and attacked Moses Otieno, inflicting deep cuts on his cheeks and back.

The suspect then fled the scene.

Members of the public reportedly launched a search for him and later found him at a nearby market while armed with broken bottles.

Police said the crowd attacked the suspect, subjecting him to mob justice. He died from the injuries.

Police later revisited the scene, where a panga believed to have been used in the attack was recovered and kept as an exhibit.

Both bodies, which police said had visible deep cut wounds, were moved to the Bondo Sub-County Hospital mortuary awaiting postmortem examinations.

Police have urged residents to avoid taking the law into their own hands and instead surrender suspects to authorities for due process.

And a man was burnt beyond recognition after a fire gutted three semi-permanent houses in the Kizito Teja Court area of Mwiki during the early hours of Wednesday morning.

According to police, the fire incident was reported at around 1.03am to Mwiki Police Station.

Officers rushed to the scene and found three mabati structures engulfed in flames.

With the assistance of firefighters from the Gatharaine (Mwiki) KDF camp fire brigade and members of the public, the blaze was contained and extinguished at around 1.40am.

Police said one victim, identified as James Macharia, believed to be aged about 30, died in the inferno. His body was burnt beyond recognition.

Household goods of unknown value were also destroyed in the fire.

The cause of the blaze had not been established by the time police processed the scene.

The body was moved to the Nairobi City Mortuary pending autopsy as investigations into the incident continue.