Meru County: A woman was burnt to death in Imenti for allegedly practicing witchcraft. Gladys Muthoni, was attacked and set on fire by residents after being allegedly accused of casting a spell to make a child sick. Her house was set ablaze while she was inside. The attack occurred on June 2, in Gakuune in Igandene.
“We are furious with this woman from the Gakuu community. She came to my house and accused me of witchcraft, saying that the child’s leg should not be decapitated because the child would be healed, but if it was, the child would die. The child died in the end. We realized there was no other option but to take the woman’s life so that when we buried the child, we also buried the woman. We found a way to get assistance,” said Paulina Tirende.
“As they walked to school, our children were unable to find a way to get around. I’ve heard that the deceased’s friends are still around. If they do not correct what they were doing, you will soon hear that we will lynch them as well. We were angry as a community but we are happy despite the loss of one of our own. God will provide us another child and may God do according to His will. However, as a result of our rage, we lynched the woman.
“The child who was bewitched and died was known us Jackeline Lima, and her father is known as Mugambi. We thank BaiteTv for coming to cover the incident so that you could help us,” she said.
“We are astounded as a community because a community member’s child died for no apparent reason. There were no issues with the child. She was born and educated from nursery to high school, but she was unable to attend school when she reached form three,” said Joyce Kaburu.
“She was cursed, became disabled, and was forced to stay at home for a year until the KCSE exam took began. The pandemic had an impact on her, and the illness had an impact on her as well. She was being driven to school by a car to take the exam. She did well, and it was because of her intelligence that she was bewitched. Despite only attending form one and two classes, she used her innate knowledge to score a D+ (Plus). She never went to form three or four classes.
“The deceased’s family has never been faced with financial problems and no Harambee has ever been carried out to educate the children in the family. However, we were invited for an Harambee to to take the child to the hospital. We later discovered that it was not a normal illness, but that the child had been bewitched and wondered what could be done for the family.
“When they came to pay her a visit before she died, more than 500 of her classmates, accompanied by their teachers, cried the entire day. Prayers for the child were said at her family’s home, where people from various churches gathered. The woman eventually came out and questioned the child’s parents about whether the prayers were effective. We wondered if our prayers were going to different gods.
“We don’t know if another person’s child was bewitched, and we don’t know how many children were on her list when she died. If you could see the child’s mother, you would cry. When she told the child that she intended to bewitch the father instead of her, the woman who was lynched acted impolitely. How would you feel as a wife married in such a home if you learned that your husband had been the target of witchcraft?
“The late child’s mother does not think for herself, and the decision was made by the women of the community,” she said.
“There was a commotion last night after people were enraged by a woman known as Gladys Muthoni. She has been causing havoc with her witchcraft for a long time. She was accused of witchcraft after it was discovered that she was assisted by others in bewitching the child after she accused her father of acquiring her land,” said a cousin of the deceased child.
“Her husband had previously sold the land to him and had received their received the money. After her husband disappeared, she later demanded that the land be returned to her. When the child’s father refused, the woman began the process of eliminating him.
“She once told the child that she had targetted her father, but the witchcraft got to her. After the child started having leg problems, her father paid the woman a visit and was asked to transfer land ownership to her, after which her daughter would be healed.
“When the father refused, it was suspected that her witchcraft was to blame for the child’s death, which occurred after she fled. When it was discovered that she had returned, the people confronted her as she entered her house. People were outraged when she was heard making statements directed at those who wanted to lynch her.
“She claimed to have arrived and entered her house. That night, over 500 people gathered at her house. When I arrived on the scene, the house had been burned down with the lady being inside,” he said.
“When she claimed she would go home and heal the child, she completely destroyed the child until she died. There was a time I had my issues and had gone to the chief’s camp and overheard her boasting that she had bewitched the child and that she didn’t care what happened to her,” said Lillian Kagendo.
