The evening of Saturday was fateful for a family of five in Lugari Station in Lugari Sub-county, Kakamega County after a mother locked herself and her three children in their house and set it ablaze.
The eldest son, however, managed to escape from the ill-fated house by finding the keys the mother had hidden under the bed and unlocking the door behind the inferno that had caught the attention of the neighbors lately.
“The mother had pushed the bed to the doorway, but the child managed to push it away and escape,” Rebecca, a witness, said.
Attention: You can contribute to the success of the burial arrangements of the mother and her two kids through MPESA 0704933813 (Susan Wanjala). The cost is estimated at KShs 500,000. Thank you!
According to an official report seen by the Western Kenya Times, his two siblings, one a 4-year-old and the other a 2-year-old, were badly burned to death. Items in the house were also consumed in the fire, as seen through a huge hole that had been made in attempts to rescue them.
“I even brought my generator to pump water from the borehole to extinguish the flames, but to no avail. The lady had set the whole house on fire before anyone could realize it, ” John Kirimi,” one of the neighbors that had come to the rescue, said.
What had happened before all this?
Reports by neighbors indicate that Hellen Vuyanzi, 29, had stormed her husband, Tom Mito alias Tomcom, a popular businessman at Lugari Station market, having a cool moment with a woman identified as a teacher at Mapengo Primary School in Chekalini Ward.
- Video of witness account of the incident
“Hellen caught her husband Tom with his lover hanging out in the lover’s rented room near Hellen’s saloon at the center before a scuffle ensued. Tom attacked his wife, broke her phone, and dragged her back home. A witness said his going back to the market afterward could have been what angered his wife enough to take her own life and that of her children, “a witness said.
Sam Oduor is the founder and one of the editors at WKT. With a strong background in Communication and Journalism, Sam is an experienced digital media expert currently building a team of young professionals dedicated to telling the story of our community in a unique, authentic way.