This archive report was first published on 24 November 2019.
On Saturday evening, a 17-year-old Form Four student, Rodgers Bett, was brutally killed by an angry mob at Sigalagala market in Kenya. The student, who had just finished sitting for his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams on Friday, was accused of stealing a mobile phone.
According to the student's mother, Beatrice Khalenya, the killing was a case of mistaken identity, as her son had never been convicted of any crime before. She expressed her grief, saying, “They killed my son claiming he is a thief and that’s not true. He had just finished sitting his KCSE exams and we knew he was going to uplift the family in future but that dream has been cut short. We are not happy with what the mob did to our son,”
The student's sister, Rosemary Khayeshe, also spoke out against the mob, saying, “The mob threatened to ‘discipline’ us like our brother if we dared stand on their way while discharging their duties. The mob was led by Nyumba Kumi officials to kill our brother. It’s very unfortunate to lose a young man prematurely,”
Shinyalu Sub County Police Commander Robert Makauon stated that a local businessman had reported the student for stealing his mobile phone. The businessman, identified as Makau, claimed that the phone had been off and was later tracked to the student's house, where it was recovered from his girlfriend after he was killed.
The incident has sparked calls for citizens to refrain from taking the law into their own hands and instead report suspects to the police for action.
