Five fail to eat grass in village drama

• Young men suspected of stealing a cow end up in hospital suffering from hysteria and vomiting

The five young men suspected of stealing a cow were supposed to eat grass and confess their sins, had the witchdoctor’s herbs “proved” them guilty. Instead, they ended up in hospital, kicking and screaming.

The concoction, according to villagers, was meant to identify the thieves and turn them into herbivores, but that was not to be. One became unconscious, while the others became hysterical and started vomiting, as blood oozed out of their noses.

Villagers say assistant chief John Kyueyi Aluoch brought the witchdoctor believed to have his origins in Migori County, and an operating base in Kisumu.

But the assistant chief vehemently denied bringing the witchdoctor, insisting that he only called a security meeting at the home of Mzee Wilson Ng’ang’a Wangige where the theft had occurred.

“It was the villagers who decided to look for a witchdoctor as they were tired of the thefts,” said Mr Kyueyi of West Kombewa Sub Location.

According to a young man who took the concoction, the assistant chief announced at a funeral last Saturday in Mireri Village, that a witchdoctor would be brought to find the thieves.

Villagers, Emmanuel Jacob Otieno said, raised Sh3,200 which was then sent to the witchdoctor via M-Pesa.

Subsequently, the villages were instructed to converge at the home of Mzee Wangige the following day, Sunday.

It is not clear who came with the witchdoctor, but residents who include Mr Otieno, Mzee Wangige, his wife Lucia Anyango and other villagers who refused to be named, claim it is the assistant chief who brought the witchdoctor.

Before they took the concoction, Mr Otieno says he saw the witchdoctor go with it inside a hut and sensed that he was adding something.

“I was reluctant, but I was not afraid since I had not stolen any animal,” said Mr Otieno. He drank reluctantly the full cup and so did four others as villagers waited to see whether the victims would start eating grass.

Half an hour later, on his way home, he felt stomach pains, became dizzy and began staggering before he blacked out.

According to police in Kombewa, they found two of the five men unconscious with the other three vomiting and showing signs of hysteria.

The five were taken to the Kombewa District Hospital where hospital staff had a hard time controlling them. Police say the five had “became wild”.

Mr Otieno says he regained consciousness in hospital bed, with his hands and feet tied with ropes. “My head was spinning, my stomach aching and I felt very dizzy. I thought I was going to die,” Mr Otieno, 28, told the Nation later.

Dr Nickson Shango who attended to the patients, said they had injuries on their legs and hands, a sign that they had been tied up.

He also confirmed that they had soft tissue injuries and were hysterical.

“This was not the correct way to deal with them, even if they were the ones who had stolen”, said Dr Shango. He gave them pain killers and later discharged them on Tuesday afternoon after their condition improved.