Residents of Kambala village in Kericho County are searching for the body of a middle-aged man who drowned on Tuesday January 23 while attempting to escape arrest by plunging into a river.

The incident began when the man allegedly tried to steal a cow from his mother with the intention of selling it for personal gain.

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According to the police report, the man’s siblings realized that the family cow was missing from the shed and immediately commenced a search for it.

After a short while, they discovered that the man had taken the cow and attempted to sell it. They tracked him down, caught him with the cow, and compelled him to return it to the owner.

The area assistant chief and the Assistant County Commissioner, who were passing by during the confrontation, stopped to inquire about what was going on.

Fearing arrest, the man assumed the officials wanted to detain him and promptly escaped towards a swollen river, attempted to swim to the other side but the water swept him away.

Angry residents turned to the assistant chief and attacked him, blaming him for the man’s drowning.

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Woman jumps in a river with her twins

Elsewhere, a 34-year-old woman in Mulukusu village, Shinyalu sub-county in Kakamega County was rescued after jumping into flooded river Isiukhu whil carrying her two-year-old twins.

Kakamega OCPD, Valerian Obore, said that the woman was rescued by a man who was fishing at the river bank and rushed her to Kakamega General Hospital for treatment under strict police supervision.

According to the woman’s husband, her wife had left home to attend a funeral ceremony at her rural home before allegedly throwing herself into the river.

Police are still investigating the incident.