A suspected thief narrowly escaped death when irate members of the public burnt his house before attacking and setting him on fire at Mapera village, Kongoni location in Likuyani Sub County.
The suspect, Wycliffe Nyambaka, is said to be a notorious criminal who has been terrorizing residents for a long time.
It’s alleged that the suspect together with his accomplices broke into one of the resident’s house on Tuesday night and stole several bags of maize.
Angry residents raided his house Wednesday afternoon where they found four bags of the stolen maize but on seeing them, he fled away.
The residents then decided to set his house a blaze before launching a manhunt for him.
The suspect who was armed with a panga and a knife was found hiding at the bank of Kipsangui River before the angry mob descended upon him with all manner of crude weapons. They later doused him with petrol and set him on fire.
However, police officers from Mawe Tatu patrol base intervened quickly and managed to save him before being handed to Matunda police officers who rushed him to hospital in critical condition.
Residents want his accomplices whom he mentioned arrested and charged or else they take law into their hands and deal with them.
Mawe Tatu sub location assistant chief Wycliffe Masinde who visited the scene of incident warned locals against taking the law into their hands whenever such criminal activities occurred in the area, “They should instead hand such suspects to security agencies in order to pave room for due process of the law,” urged the local administrator.