Suspected Mungiki sect member killed, hanged in Kirinyaga

Police in Kirinyaga County have launched investigations into circumstances that led to the killing of a man suspected to be a member of the outlawed Mungiki sect.

The body of 35-year old from Kiaragana village was found hanging on a tree on Tuesday morning.

Angry residents from Kagumo are said to have beaten him to death and hanged his body at Kiagarama area on the Kagumo-Karatina road.

According to witnesses who sought anonymity, the deceased had just returned from his hiding place at Karatina.

Ndia OCPD Sicily Gatiti confirmed the incident saying the deceased had returned home from Karatina to attend to his farm when the incident happened.

“When we were supervising KCPE exams, I got a call that there was a man who had been killed at Karatina road, ” Gatiti said.

“On getting to the scene we found it was true, his body was hanging on a tree”, she added further revealing that boda boda riders are suspected to have involved in the alleged killing.

Gatiti said police have intensified patrols in the area to avert such incidents.

The police boss further issued a stern warning to area residents to desist from taking the law into their own hands.

“It’s wrong to kill someone because you suspect him to be a member of an illegal group, you should inform the government instead of acting on your own. I won’t allow such acts to happen in the future and those who participated will be brought into book,” Gatiti said.

Between 2007-2010 the sect members in Kagumo were flushed out by a vigilante group after they were accused of allegedly engaging in illegal revenue collection.