Probe as suspected chicken thief beaten to death in Kirinyaga

According to residents led by Francis Mutegi, the incident occurred at around 2am when the suspect was spotted inside the homestead of the village in-charge. “The village in-charge raised the alarm after his son saw the man putting a hen into a sack in the chicken coop. He woke him up, and an alarm was raised, attracting locals,” Mutegi said.

Residents claim the suspect had already stolen from two other households earlier that night before being cornered. In the chaos that followed, angry members of the public reportedly bought fuel from a nearby 24-hour petrol station and set the suspect on fire before police arrived at the scene.

“We have been experiencing frequent chicken thefts, and chickens are a vital source of livelihood. Some of the hens escaped when the sack was opened, and considering it was around 3am, we were deeply frustrated. These were chickens we had been rearing for Christmas,” said resident Joyce Muthoni.

Mutegi added that theft cases in Mururi and surrounding villages have been on the rise, forcing some residents to resort to sleeping with their chickens during the festive season to protect them.

Police officers who arrived at the scene struggled to rescue the suspect from the irate crowd. They urged residents to refrain from taking the law into their own hands and to report such incidents to authorities instead.

The body was taken to the Kerugoya Hospital mortuary awaiting identification.