Four grannies lynched over witchcraft claims

Four people were today afternoon burnt beyond recognition in Bomokona village, Marani over suspicion of being witches.

Marani Sub County Deputy County Commissioner Patrick Muriira said all the four victims were women aged over 70. They were suspected of having bewitched a Form Two student.

According to the police, the student was suddenly unable speak and villagers opted to initiate a process to identify the witches.

The student is said to have gained back his voice and named the four. This forced the irate villagers to storm each of the homes, killing them.

Police have arrested four suspects in connection with the lynching of the grannies.

“We can't have a society that believes in witchcraft and mob justice. The law must be applied accordingly,” Muriira said.

The killing of the four is just a statistic in the rising number of mob lynchings of elderly women who are said to engage in what villagers term as "black magic" in Kisii and Nyamira counties.