An enraged Embu mob lynched a man for hacking his estranged wife to death in Kavutiri village.
Peter Muriithi, 38, was killed shortly after stabbing his wife, Purity Mukami, 35 to death.
Mukami had left her matrimonial home and returned to her parents due to domestic disputes, according to the villagers.
Mukami had been living with her parents for the past two months, and her husband’s efforts to bring her back home had been futile.
Muriithi ambushed Mukami while she was picking tea in her parents’ home on Monday afternoon and stabbed her several times in the chest.
Muriithi fled after committing the crime, leaving the woman severely injured.
Mukami was found unconscious by villagers responding to distress calls; she died as they were taking her to the hospital.
The villagers quickly regrouped, flushed the man from his hiding place, and beat him to death.
Gaturi North location chief Nicasio Nyaga recounted how Muriithi travelled all the way to Kavutiri from his home in Kiamwenja to kill his wife.
“The woman was seriously wounded and she lost the battle of her life while being taken to the hospital,” said Mr Nyaga.
He advised couples to talk to each other instead of killing each other when they disagreed on domestic issues.
“Following the deaths of the couple, their children are now left without parents,” said Mr Nyaga.
Abdurahi Alio, the police chief of Embu North Sub-County, said the bodies had been taken to the mortuary at Embu Referral Hospital.
He stated that an investigation into the incident had been launched.
