A village in Kirinyaga County was left in shock after a 65-year-old man was tied up and burned alive in his home, days after reporting his wife missing.
The man, identified by police as Mwangi Karua, was attacked on Thursday night at his homestead in South Ngariama, Mwea-East. Witnesses said his hands were bound before he was forced into his house, which was then set ablaze.
Relatives of Karua’s missing wife, who vanished a week ago under unclear circumstances, are the main suspects. “We were watching from a distance when they confronted him,” a villager told this reporter, asking not to be named. “They tied his hands, threw him inside his house, and set it on fire. It was unbelievable. I have never seen anything like it.”
Neighbours said Karua and his wife, Wanjiru, had lived together on their farm since 2009. They were known to drink together, though residents said they had not seen her for several days. “We don’t know what happened because we have not seen his wife for a week now,” said Cyrus Ndege, a community elder. “I was told on Saturday that residents forced him to report her disappearance at Itangi Police Station.”
According to locals, the woman’s relatives — some from Kabare in Gichugu, others from South Ngariama — stormed the homestead, demanding answers about her whereabouts. That confrontation quickly turned deadly.
Mwea-East Sub-County Police Commander Stephen Okal confirmed the incident, describing it as a case under active investigation. “We are pursuing the suspects, who are well known to residents,” he said. “We urge members of the public to come forward, help identify the attackers, and record statements so that we can arrest and prosecute them. We cannot allow such acts in society.”
Okal also noted that the missing woman remains unaccounted for. “The deceased had already reported her disappearance before he was killed,” he said.
The brutal killing has unsettled South Ngariama, a quiet farming area where residents say violence of this nature is unheard of. For now, police are hunting for both the suspects and the missing woman, as the community struggles to come to terms with a crime that has left a homestead in ashes and a family torn apart.
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