A somber mood has engulfed a village in Kapenguria, West Pokot County, after a 58-year-old man was reportedly forced to commit suicide over witchcraft allegations.

Limapus Loseru, was accused of being a witchcraft and causing mayhem, allegations that saw locals of Katikomor village ambush his home, forcefully eject him out of his house and asked him to kill himself by hanging.

Speaking to TV47 Digital on phone, the area Assistant Chief Abraham Limo says that the group of young people camped at his home asking him to either kill himself or be killed.

“On Sunday evening at around 3pm, a huge group camped at his home, when I went there they told me the deceased’s girl of about 17 years had forcefully cut her friend’s hair and ran away with the peace of hair, something they suspected that some rituals were going to happen, the move further elicited mixed reactions forcing locals to engage in the vice,” Limo says.

Upon ejecting the deceased from his house, the local administrator says that the mob asked him to hung himself but the deceased refused, prompting the mob to force his son, Lopirakwang Limapus, to hung his father to death.

It is reported that after he died, the mob instructed the son to dig a grave within the compound and bury his father immediately. The locals also warned the son not to inform authorities, threatening to kill him the same way his father was killed if he does not heed to this demand.

Confirming the incident, West Pokot Sub-County Police Commandant Kirui Kipkemoi says the matter was reported at Katikomor Police Station.

“We have deployed our security team in the area to collect all the suspects who were involved in the incident and investigation are ongoing,” said Kirui.