Was man’s head brutally hammered with three nails over Sh1, 000 ‘deni ya mjengo’?

Robert Muchangi, 28, showing the two nails hammered to his head [Photo: Darlington Manyara]

The 28-year-old mason in Meru County whose head was brutally hammered with three nails had gone to demand construction dues from a homeowner.

Robert Muchangi, a father-of-two and who has since died, was attacked in Kabuitu, Igembe Central and rushed to Maua Methodist Hospital by a neighbour before being referred to the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) where the nails were pulled out at the ICU.

Muchangi’s family and Dominisiano Kaunga who rushed him hospital claimed he knew his attackers after he went to demand payment from a homeowner who had offered him construction work.

Kaunga told The Nairobian that Muchangi lost, but later regained consciousness and “he mentioned names of the people who attacked him. He said he had gone to claim his money after working for one of the attackers,” he said listing the assailants as Kailikia and Kobia after whom Meru County commander David Kirui asked the public to help track their whereabouts.

Kobia is a fellow mason while Kailikia is the foreman who had sub-contracted Muchangi who went to demand Sh1000 for work done. His younger sister, Murugi Njiru, told The Nairobian that the attack has left their family with Sh265, 000 hospital bill.

X-rays indicated his skull and brain were injured and Igembe South Medical Officer of Health, Dr Michael Kariuki, referred Muchangi to KNH after realizing the nails could severely damage his nervous system and the spinal cord.

Dr Kariuki said Muchangi’s was the second nail incident in the county after a man from Subuiga in Meru County was hammered with six nails last September and “It is a new trend which is worrying, one will never recover fully if hammered into the head and the brains damaged.”

Muchangi’s family described him as a peaceful person who left Nguiri village in Embu County for Meru about 10 years ago to earn a living as a mason.

 Murugi said he often went to the village where his two children were under the care of his father, Njiru Wa Kiarie, after Muchangi separated from his wife, now deceased.

 “Even his friends who took him to the hospital said he is a peace loving person hence we wondered why someone did such an inhumane thing to him,” said Murugi, adding that the family wants to see justice served.

Igembe South police boss Rashid Mohamed told the Nairobian that law enforcement officers have launched a manhunt for the suspects even though “we have also not established what led to the attack.”