On 21 November 2018, a 15-year-old boy in Kandara, Murang’a County, died after what his family says was a beating by men who had gone to counsel him following circumcision.
Juliano Kanyonyo was found dead in his bed on Monday morning. A post-mortem later showed that he had a clot in the brain.
His relatives said the men who visited him to welcome him into manhood turned violent after deciding the chicken he had offered them was not mature enough. The boy had reportedly bought the chicken using money from casual labour.
Under Kikuyu customs, an initiate is expected to present chickens to older men and cigarettes as part of the welcome into manhood. The source also says the boy is then roughed up in his house by his “counsellors” and is not expected to tell his parents what is happening because he is being trained to endure hardship.
Beth Nyambura, the boy’s mother, said she saw four men enter her son’s house before she went to bed on Sunday night. She said she had already received complaints that the chicken was not mature and intended to replace it the next day.
“When I returned home at about 8am I noticed that my son had not woken up and I decided to go to his house, which is against the norms and tradition, to check what was up.
Kandara police boss Wilson Kosgey said officers were looking for four suspects who had visited the teenager. He also said bullying of newly circumcised boys in Kandara was on the rise, adding that another teen was in hospital after his “counsellors” allegedly poisoned him.
