Man kills five children, commits suicide

A 47 year-old farmer hacked his five children to death before he committed suicide after a domestic quarrel at their home in Kuresoi, Nakuru County.

John Kiprono Kirui’s wife, Betty Kirui, narrowly escaped death during the incident in Saboi village. She suffered panga cuts on her left shoulder.

The children, aged between two to 10 years, suffered deep stabs wounds.

Mrs Kirui was recovering at Chesirek Dispensary in Keringet. She was traumatised and could not talk to reporters.

According to deceased next door neighbour, Samuel Langat, the two had started fighting at 11 pm on Monday.

“We left the homestead after the wife escaped thinking that - that was the last of the matter as are used to seeing them fight on a daily basis,” he told Nation in an interview.

Mr Langat added: “But at 3 am, we heard the children screaming and after rushing to the place again, we found the kitchen up in smoke and on asking Kiprono what was happening, he said it had burned down by accident."

Mr Langat said he only came to realise that his neighbour had killed his children in cold blood at 8 am Tuesday.

“I tried to peep through the window and I found stains of blood on the floor, which compelled me to break inside the house. I found the bodies of the children lying on the floor in pools of blood while their father had hanged himself,” Mr Langat said.

And it was not the first time for the man to threaten to kill his wife as his younger brother Leonard Kiprotich, 24 confirmed.

“It is customary for my brother and his wife to fight and there was a time that he threatened to cut her with a panga. But I intervened he also turned against me. I had to escape.”

Area District Commissioner Cyrus Gatobu said it was a case of domestic violence.