Residents from Kairungu Location in Kitui County on early Monday morning hunted down a man accused of killing his wife and fleeing with her head in the wee hours of Monday.
According to reports, the man, 36, chopped off his wife's head killing the 49-year-old instantly. He left her body on the roadside at Mbagwani Village.
When locals learnt of the heinous act, they launched a manhunt for the suspect in a fit of rage.
They pursued him for 20 kilometres and later caught up with him and demanded to be shown where the head was. The suspect complied and took them to the location and also showed them the murder weapon.
The angry residents later took matters into their own hands and killed him.
According to the local chief Daniel Kyumbo, cases of wrangles between the suspect and his deceased wife had been reported on a couple of occasions.
He further revealed that he had seized the murder weapon used by the suspect.
While addressing the press, Joseph Ole Napeiyan, the commander of the Eastern Regional Police revealed that the murder was reported at 2.03 am at Mwingi Police Station in the wee hours of Monday morning.
Napeiyan noted that the woman's body had several sharp cuts which may have been inflicted using a machete.
"The woman's head was also chopped off and missing," the commander stated.
This case compounds the worrying trend of Gender Based Violence (GBV) in the country with statistics showing that the instances of Kenyans who have lost their lives at the hands of their partners have kept increasing recently.
For instance, another incident was reported on February 25 in Kisumu County where a man hacked four family members to death.
According to reports, the man killed his wife who was five months pregnant, his five-year-old son, and both his uncle and aunt. The man later fled the scene as investigations commenced.
