Editor's Review

  •  The suspect identified as Joseph Karanja, 30, had allegedly committed a robbery on Tuesday night and went into hiding, leaving irate residents baying for his blood.

A robbery suspect on Wednesday lost his life after he was burnt to death in Gatanga, Murang’a County.

 The suspect identified as Joseph Karanja, 30, had allegedly committed a robbery on Tuesday night and went into hiding, leaving irate residents baying for his blood.

On Wednesday morning, the angry residents launched a hunt for him, with an aim of bringing him to account over increasing robbery incidents reported across the county.

After hours of searching for Karanja, the villagers finally found him at his hide out. The suspect, however, jumped into a pit latrine hoping to evade arrest by the angry residents.

Pit latrine where the suspect was murdered. [Photo: Courtesy]

“…As the exhausted search party was about to give up at 10am, they unbelievably stumbled on the suspect at his hideout, close to his father’s compound. In a bid to evade arrest, the suspect jumped into a 10-feet pit latrine to save his skin but his mission was short lived.

“Little did he know that the pit latrine would in a matter of minutes, be his waterloo. Meanwhile, the agitated mob was gathering firewood and other flammable materials which they threw into the pit and started a fire, killing the suspect on the spot,” DCI narrated in a statement posted on their social media pages.

Following the incident, the DCI has warned Kenyans against taking law into their own hands, adding that anyone with a complaint should report and allow authorities to investigate and handle the issue in accordance to the law.