A man broke into a home, ate bananas, ugali and greens, drank milk and passed out in a bed, according to the victim.
Koome was found sleeping in a bed on Friday in a house in Murimachui village in Meru County that was not his own. Koome admitted to breaking into the house through an unlocked window, eating food and passing out in the bed.
According to Koome, he used to live in Kibirichia and had no work, which is what drove him to do what I did.
“I’m having financial problems, which is why I’m wearing clothes that aren’t mine. Eating is difficult, and I usually sleep outside because I can’t find work. I beg forgiveness because I had stolen nothing else from this house except the clothes I was wearing,” Koome said.
Koome said he’d been to Kiirua several times and once happened to run into the owner of the house while delivering milk to the dairy. He said he was on my way to Kiirua and decided to sneak into the owner’s house to look for food.
“When I broke into the house late at night, the door and windows were not locked. I ate food after sneaking through the window and eventually fell asleep. I’m from Kianjia, a village in Booringu, and traveled to Kibirichia to look for work. Whenever I find something by sneaking around, I usually take it with me,” he said.
According to Koome, he was uncircumcised because his parents and grandparents abandoned him after refusing to pay his school fees.
“I swear if I had the gas, I would have returned it. I left home to look for work and I stumbled upon a job opportunity in the home Mr. Kinyua, where I worked for seven years. He had promised to circumcise me alongside his firstborn son, but he left me out and said he would include me when he circumcises his second son,” he said.
Koome said Kinyua also excluded him during the circumcision of his second son, and when he asked for his salary so that he could return home, he was chased away like a dog.
“I’m not sure how old I am because I left home when I was a small child and grew up in Kibirichia. Since then, I’ve been looking for money to get circumcised, but I’ve been unsuccessful. I am requesting that well-wishers assist me with financial assistance so that I can return home,” he said.
According to the victim, Lucy Mbaabu, when she woke up that morning, the kitchen door was closed and the padlock was unlocked.
“When I opened the door, I discovered that the leftover ugali and greens had been devoured and all of the milk had been consumed. He’d also consumed all of the bananas and spit miraa mixed with saliva outside the house,” she said.
She said that before she went to deliver milk to the dairy, she informed her husband about the incident.
“When I returned and resumed my housework, two visitors arrived. When I asked one of them to assist me with the gutter repairs, he requested a hammer. I went to the store to get it, and while my mother was speaking to me, I heard another voice respond from another room adjacent to the store,” she said.
She said that when she opened the door, she found the suspect asleep and had covered himself in blankets.
“I informed the visitor who was repairing the gutter, and he rushed inside and wrapped a rope around the suspect’s hands. He then led him out of the room and we expect him to reveal the location of all the other items he stole,” she said.
According to the victim, when she returned home from Kiirua an hour later on earlier in another incident, she discovered that her house had been broken into.
“The gas cylinder and the beans in the gunny bag had vanished. The kitchen had been broken into as well, and all of the leftover food had been devoured. A bucket of floor had also been stolen,” she said.
According to the victim’s mother, what surprised her was the fact that her daughter’s house was broken into twice and several of her belongings were stolen.
“But, by God’s grace, the suspect was apprehended today. The suspect had the audacity to dress in my grandson’s clothes, and I wonder what he would have done to him if he had discovered him in the house after sneaking in. My grandson is currently in school,” she said.
She urged the elders in the community to look into the situation because the women in the community do not stay at home during the day because they work in the fields.
“We’ve had sleepless nights due to dogs barking as a result of petty thieves breaking into homes. When our youth plant Miraa crops, they are unable to harvest them because they are stolen by thieves. I request that the suspect not be released because he will return to the community to steal again,” she said.
An eyewitness requested the authorities to take the suspect into custody because if he would be released, they’d take the law into their own hands.
“The youth have proven to be criminals. They ambush residents and steal all of their valuables in a specific area. We’ve been through a lot, and we’d like the government to beef up security,” said an eyewitness.
An eyewitness said that the suspect was armed with a dagger and carried an identification card.
