A somber mood has engulfed Kwihota village of Ruiru in Kiambu County after the body of a man who mysteriously went missing a week ago was recovered in a pit latrine.
John Gichia Gitau who went missing on January 26, 2021 is reported to have been killed by his middle-aged son following a longstanding land dispute.
The deceased is said to have sold his plot at Sh 3 million, a property that his son is said to have been salivating for inheritance.
After the sale transaction went through, the son, out of anger allegedly stabbed the father severally before dumping his body in a nearby toilet.
According to family members and neighbours, they have been looking for the aging man for a whole week in futility.
“We were told that Gichia is missing and on arriving at his home, we found his son with his phone and identity card and upon questioning, the son told us that he could not tell his father’s whereabouts and that he held his phone after he heard it ringing in the house,” John Gitau, a villager told journalists.
His body was recovered on Sunday morning after a woman who was using the toilet saw one of his hands hanging.
“The woman who saw the hanging hand called neighbors who thronged the scene and blocked the son from freeing,” added Gitau.
They said that the son has reportedly been squandering the proceeds of the land sale already having spent Sh 30,000 in three days and furnished his house.
“He had informed his children that his father had sold a plot he had been salivating,” Gitau Kuria, a resident, said.
The body which neighbours said had bruises indicating the man had been stabbed severally before he was dumped in a pit latrine was retrieved from the latrine by officers from Ruiru police station.
Residents led by Dennis Karanja and Grace Wambui blamed high uptake of bhang and other outlawed substances for augmented cases of societal vices in the area.
According to Ruiru Sub County police commander Phineas Lingera, the son (whose name detectives held) has already been arrested and is assisting police with investigation.
Lingera pointed out that the motive of the murder incident is yet to be established and that the son will continue to be held for interrogation.
The deceased’s body is being preserved at Kenyatta University Teaching and Referral mortuary.
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