Elderly woman accused of witchcraft lynched by Kisii mob

A 70-year-old woman was lynched by irate villagers in Nyabitiro, Kisii County over claims that she was involved in witchcraft.

The elderly woman was attacked on Tuesday morning after she was reportedly found dropping some leaves considered as witchcraft paraphernalia at the home of her stepson.

The Nation could not ascertain the witchcraft claims.

Locals say the stepson buried his six-year-old daughter last week. They claimed this was the third child the man has lost in mysterious circumstances.

“We have lost three in strange deaths since we got married in 1997,” the man said.

The girl who died recently developed a flu and succumbed on arrival at a local hospital.

Locals claimed that when they confronted the elderly woman, she mentioned two of her neighbours as being accomplices in her witchcraft activities.

But the two managed to flee before the angry mob caught up with them. Their houses were however vandalised and later burnt to ashes.

The stepson, who until last week worked as a security guard in Nairobi, claimed the elderly woman had been warned by community elders after repeatedly involving herself in weird activities.

“What was the woman doing in my homestead at 6am? Why do I keep losing my children in abnormal deaths? Deaths that cannot be explained,” he asked.

Kisii police boss Jebel Munene said security officers responded quickly and stopped villagers from torching more houses.

“By the time we arrived, the elderly woman had already been beaten to death,” said Mr Munene.

He, however, said mob justice is illegal and warned members of the public against taking the law into their own hands.