The mother of Elijah Obuong, one of the Kitengela friends whose body was found last week by sand harvesters in Murang'a County, has spoken.
Obuong's mother stated that she had identified the body as that of his son, noting that his body was intact and only had few bruises. She suspected that her son could have been strangled leading to his death.
Following reports that the four friends were involved in criminal activities, Obuong's mother defended his son, saying that he was only just a victim of circumstances.
"My son was a staunch Adventist and did not take alcoholic drinks. He only had friends of questionable character," she told People Daily.
"It is painful. It is cruel and merciless to kill such an innocent, harmless person. My firstborn son has died a cruel death leaving his only other brother and us," she added.
Obuong's brother reiterated his mother's sentiments saying that the family was surprised that he had been branded a criminal.
The four men; Jack Ochieng, Benjamin Imbai, Brian Odour and Obuong, went missing after having lunch at a popular club in Kitengela. They allegedly left in a white Toyota Mark X only to be reported missing a few hours later.
The deceased body was recovered on April 20, 2021, just a day after he was reported missing. His body was taken to the mortuary and marked as an 'unidentified male adult.'
100 meters from where Obuong's body was found, another body believed to be that of Ochieng was found.
A third body, believed to be that of Imbai, was found at General Kago Funeral Home in Thika. Police officers indicated that the body was also taken to the morgue on April 20, 2021.
All the bodies had been stuffed in gunny bags, had been tied with ropes and were thrown within a radius of 30km to each other.
Oduor is yet to be found.
Murang'a County DCI boss Daniel Kandie indicated that the police were working with their Isinya counterparts to investigate what led to their deaths.
