Suspected Thief Lynched In Rarieda

The mob descended on the suspect last evening; after he refused to disclose where he kept a motorcycle he had allegedly stolen.

Philip Odongo Okelo was brutally beaten before his body was eventually set ablaze by infuriated motorcyclists who had dragged him all the way from the neighboring Siaya Sub-county.

According to the Chairman of Bondo Sub-County Community Policing Committee Juma Abuko, the late Okelo is alleged to have posed as a passenger and boarded a motorcycle before stealing it from the owner about a week ago in Bondo town.

The suspect had allegedly gone to seek spiritual help from a preacher in Siaya Town so he wouldn’t be caught.

Unknown to him, the owner of the stolen motorbike had previously gone to the same preacher to seek help with tracing his motorcycle.

Okello’s tribulations began when the preacher employed delaying tactics and found a way of alerting the motorcycle owner.

The boda boda owner together with some of his colleagues rushed to Siaya and picked the suspect demanding he shows them where he had kept the motorbike.

Rarieda OCPD Johana Chebii, confirmed the incident, and said the body of the deceased Okelo was moved to Bondo District Hospital Morgue awaiting postmortem as investigations into the incident start.

Chebii however has appealed to members of the public to desist from taking the law into their hands, stating that they should always hand over a suspect into the custody of the police instead.

By Diana Kariuki