Outrage as elderly woman is killed in gang attack in Isiolo, two suspects lynched

An elderly woman was found murdered in a stock theft incident that sparked a mob justice incident, which left two suspects killed in Isiolo Town.

Police said the incident was reported on the evening of April 3, 2026, at the GK Prisons Farm in Safi Estate. 

The body of a 75-year-old woman, identified as Hawo Kabiro Omar, was found lying at the farm where she had been grazing her goats.

Police visited the scene and established that the elderly woman had been attacked by two unknown suspects.

Preliminary findings indicate that the assailants accosted the victim, assaulted her, and later killed her before making away with her goats. 

The deceased sustained severe injuries, including head wounds suspected to have been inflicted using a blunt object, neck injuries, and broken upper limbs.

In the aftermath of the attack, angry residents reportedly tracked down the two suspects as they drove away the stolen goats. 

The suspects were then subjected to mob justice, with residents lynching and burning their bodies beyond recognition.

All three bodies were moved to the Isiolo County Referral Hospital mortuary, where they await identification and postmortem examinations.

Police have condemned the incident and warned against mob justice, urging members of the public to allow due process. Investigations into the circumstances surrounding the attack and subsequent killings are ongoing.

The police said they discourage mob lynching and want suspects to be surrendered for processing.

Locals defended their actions, saying bandits have been terrorising them with no help from authorities.

The area is among those under special operations to address the cattle rustling menace. This has led to more deployment of security personnel in the region.

Elsewhere, detectives in Gucha South Subcounty, Kisii county, launched investigations following the discovery of a man’s body in a gully at Bomogeri C Village in Getono Location.

The incident was reported on April 3, 2026, and the deceased was identified as 53-year-old Benard Oroni Onyuoki. 

His lifeless body was found lying face down inside a deep gully, approximately five metres from the Omogwa–Kiorina murram road.

Preliminary observations indicated that the deceased had a greenish substance, suspected to be kubel tobacco, under his lower lip and inside his jacket pocket.

Police officers processed and documented the scene before moving the body to Tabaka Mission Hospital mortuary, where it awaits a postmortem examination.

The motive of the murder was not immediately known. A team of detectives revisited the scene on Saturday as prat of the probe into the murder.