A 31-year old man has died after he was beaten up by a gang which had allegedly been instructed by his parents over his unruly behavior in Kiebogi village in Meru county.
The man succumbed to a thorough beating allegedly inflicted by the men in a disciplining session gone awry. The man is said to have on several occasions been warned against going home while drunk, causing a commotion and insulting his parents.
A few days earlier, the man is said to have arrived home high as a kite, belted dirty songs aimed at insulting his parents. Constant interventions from village elders are said to have fallen on deaf ears.
The man‘s mother Jane Patrick admitted that there had been strife over his son’s behavior but denied that they had any role in his beating.
She said the man had arrived home at around 2:30 am injured and asked for drinking water. They discovered his lifeless body in the morning at around 6:30.
Angry residents gathered at the home threatening to flog the parents claiming that they had failed to report the death for a whole hour.
Miruriri chief Edward Gitonga said he was informed of the incident in the morning and called the police as investigations began.
He said they had recovered blood-soaked clubs and thick sticks inside the parent’s farm while residents linked the parents to the killing.
“This is an adult and if he had committed any crime, he should have been reported to the police. People should use the right channels of handling cases and avoid taking laws in their hands,” he cautioned.
Residents said such cases of parents hiring gangs to discipline their children were on the rise.
