Angry Voi residents lynch man accused of killing girlfriend

A 32-year-old man was on Thursday lynched by mob after he killed his girlfriend following a domestic dispute in Kirindinyi Village, Voi in Taita Taveta County.

Mr Protas Nyangisera is said to have slaughtered Ms Tecla Shighadi, 37, after she refused to travel with him to see his parents in Kisii.

According to relatives, Ms Shighadi had instead asked her boyfriend to bring his parents to her parents for dowry negotiations. 

According to Ms Shighadi’s relatives, the boyfriend had come to visit her since last week but they seemed to have a quarrel.

“I hosted the two at my house since he came last week. This morning I confronted them and told them to end their dispute because they have been quarrelling ever since they came,” said a cousin of Ms Shighadi, Mr Harris Nyange.

NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS

Mr Nyange said the man and his girlfriend were living in Nairobi and had come to celebrate New Year with her parents.

According to Mr Nyange, the two locked themselves in their bedroom and after some time he decided to check on them only to find his cousin on the floor dead. 

“The door was closed so I had to enter the room through a window. The man had already escaped through the window.”

“We then alerted villagers who caught him at Ikanga area where he was beaten and killed by angry villagers,” he explained. 

A brother of Ms Shighadi said they were saddened by the death of his younger sister. 

DIVORCED

He said his sister has left behind three children whom she sired with her husband with whom they divorced in 2017. 

“Her eldest child did her KCSE exam last year, the second born is in Form Three and her last born is in class Four. I don’t know why she divorced her husband because that was her decision,” he told journalists. 

Confirming the incident, Voi OCPD Joseph Chesire said the two bodies were taken to Moi County Referral Hospital’s mortuary as they trace the man’s family.

BURNT

“Mr Nyangisera was burnt after the residents caught up with him as he was trying to escape,” he said.

Mr Chesire asked residents not to take the law into their hands and instead report such incidents to the police for action to be taken against the perpetrators. 

This comes after a 20-year-old man stabbed his wife 21 times in Ndome last week. 

County Police Commander Fred Ochieng has advised couples to seek assistance of councillors to solve disputes. 

“Couples should not fight but instead seek advice from church leaders and councillors,” he said.