Police in Kakamega county are investigating an incident where three suspected kidnappers were lynched by residents of Emukhwayi village in Butere Constituency.
The deceased are said to be part of 9 members of a kidnapping racket and were cornered on Saturday morning, while attempting to kidnap a child in the area.
Irate locals set the car they were using ablaze, killing the three on spot as the rest sustained serious burn injuries.
8 of the suspects are said to be Somalis, living in Nairobi’s Eastleigh area.
“My child’s child went to the latrine and shortly after we heard the child screaming and when we asked what the problem was, the child said that there was someone. When the child’s mother and father went to check, they saw someone escaping and they followed him,” one of the witnesses told the media.
A local administrator said that they were yet to establish identities of the suspects but investigations are on going.
“They tried kidnapping a grade pupil from Mulwanda Primary School and by good luck, the child escaped, and fellow children began screaming. People responded to the distress call and surrounded the suspects who were 9 in number before lynching them and burning their car that we suspect has been used in committing the abduction of school children. We are yet to establish their identities,” Julius Kiptoo, the Area police Chief said
The bodies of the deceased have been moved to a private mortuary in Butere, while survivors are recuperating in hospital.
