Man kills his three children in Bomet, then attempts suicide

Shocked residents of Mabuteek village in Chepalungu, Bomet County milling around the house in which a man identified as Benard Kirui murdered his three sons on March 22, 2019. The suspect was later arrested. PHOTO | VITALIS KIMUTAI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The man then attempted to commit suicide by hanging himself after but the rope he was using broke into two.
  • The children’s mother has for the last one week been away at her parents’ home after a domestic dispute with her husband.
  • Police kept off angry residents who were baying for the suspect’s blood after news of the murders spread.

Residents of Mabuteek village in Bomet County woke up to a rude shock Friday morning after a 35-year-old man strangled and killed his three sons.

The man then attempted to commit suicide by hanging himself after but the rope he was using broke into two.

Part of the rope was found hanging from the roof of the house according to local administrators who spoke to journalists.

The bodies of the children aged five, eight and 12 which had scratch marks around their necks were discovered in the morning by their grandmother who had gone to her son’s home to check on the boys.

MOTHER AWAY

The children’s mother has for the last one week been away at her parents’ home after a domestic dispute with her husband.

The couple is survived by a young child who was away with the mother at the time of the incident.

“Sadly, the three boys who had been chased away with the mother were returned to their home by the uncles a day before the murder. Their mother is said to have refused to return to her house following violence meted against her by the husband,” said Mrs Alice Koskei, a resident.

The grandmother raised the alarm attracting neighbours to the scene.

They were shocked to find the bodies lined up on the floor of the grass-thatched house.

The bodies of the three boys said to have been strangled to death by their father are loaded onto a police van on March 22, 2019. PHOTO | VITALIS KIMUTAI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

ARRESTED

“Police have arrested the suspect who fled the scene after committing the murders. He is being held at Sigor police post,” said Lelaitich Location Chief Robinson Rotich.

He was apprehended in Kinyoki village, more than five kilometres from his home, as he headed to Amalo River in what is believed to have been an attempt to commit suicide after the earlier attempt hang himself failed.

VIOLENT MAN

Police kept off angry residents who were baying for the suspect’s blood after news of the murders spread following the arrest.

“The suspect is known to be a very violent man and has had several cases reported against him,” said Mr Rotich at the scene of the murder as shocked villagers jammed the homestead.

The man had recently been arrested after assaulting a neighbour and seriously injuring him on the face using a panga. He is also said to have assaulted his father and broke his finger.

Police took the bodies of the boys to Longisa County Referral Hospital mortuary to await post-mortem examination and subsequent release to the family for burial.