This archive report was first published on 27 April 2020.
On Monday, residents of Kabararwa in Marakwet East discovered the decomposing bodies of Kiptoo Kimaiyo, 8, and Kiplagat Kimaiyo, 6, who had been killed by their father Vincent Kimaiyo Chebii and buried inside his house in Elgeyo Marakwet County.
According to local authorities, Chebii had brought the two boys home from his estranged wife in January, and they had not been seen in public since then.
Chief Joseph Kiptanui of Kipkaner location said that the lynched man had been blocking people from entering his home since January, and the motive of the killing of the two boys was still unknown.
"We came to the scene and confirmed that the children had been buried in the house. We called the police who visited the scene. The children were buried in one shallow grave inside the house", Kiptanui said.
He added that the slain children seemed to have been cut with a sharp object to fit into the shallow and narrow grave, and the bodies were decomposed to the extent that you could see bones.
Samuel Chebii, the elder brother of the suspect, said that they didn't know the whereabouts of the two boys since January after the father became hostile, preventing neighbours from coming close to his home.
"The boys were last seen late January. The children later went missing. Early this morning, he went to inform one of his uncles that he killed the boys and buried them in his house," a shocked Samuel said.
Evans Kiprotich, the uncle of the suspect, said that his nephew appeared disturbed in recent days and had brought the two boys home after he got information that they were suffering.
"He became troublesome late last year and early this year he went to bring the children home after he got information that they were suffering. He had brought one child last year, but he killed the two boys he brought in January. He often walked with arrows and a panga, and we got concerned," Kiprotich said.
Edwin Kisang, a neighbour, said that his hostile neighbour had been lying to villagers that he had moved his two boys to a relative's home in Endo in Kerio Valley.
"He would lie to us that his children were in Endo in the Kerio Valley. Last year, he brought home a son called Kipkemoi and early this year he brought two more children. We were shocked to discover he had killed and buried his children," Kisang said.
The hasty burial was not attended by the man's wife and the other two children with whom she lives.
