Four suspects in murder of Kisii women linked to witchcraft charged

The murder trial of suspects in the murder of four women on the pretext that they were linked to witchcraft kicks off on Tuesday at the Kisii Law Courts.

The suspects Amos Nyakundi Ondieki, Chrispine Ogeto Mokua, Peter Angwenyi Kwanga and Robert Ombati Onyonka appeared before Kisii Senior Resident Magistrate Paul Mutui.

The four suspects allegedly killed the four women after they linked them to witchcraft in October 2021.

The deceased were identified as Jemima Mironga,60, Agnes Ototo, 53, Sigara Onkware, 62, and Sindege Mayaka, 85.

They were accused of be-witching a form two student in Marani Sub County, Kisii County.

Two relatives to one of the deceased sustained serious injuries as they tried to protect their kin.

A police report, released and seen by K24 Digital, revealed that the student was unable to speak and villagers opted to initiate a traditional process to identify the witches.

It is then that 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.

When they were first arraigned in court, the magistrate ruled that they be held at the Kisii police station for a total of ten days awaiting postmortem results and mental assessment reports.

This is after the prosecution, led by investigations officer Corporal Zebedeo Waeire, sought more time to record statements from witnesses and the suspects.

Waeire told the court that he required 14 days to further probe the killings.

“The prosecution was requesting that the suspects are held for 14 days as investigations go on,” he had told the court then.