38-year-old victim Daniel Mauti Obara

Residents of a village in Botibigi, Kisii county were left in shock after a man murdered a villager and drank his blood before fleeing from the scene.

The suspect, identified as Kennedy Keraka alias Ruto, is said to have speared 38-year-old Daniel Mauti Obara in the heart before drinking his blood.

The deceased was on his way to collect a debt on Monday evening when he was attacked by Ruto.

Angry villagers retaliated by torching down the suspect’s  12-roomed house. They said he was from the neighbouring Borongo village and speared the victim when they met on the road.

The victim’s brother, Vincent Ondabu, said the attacker was a known criminal who lived in one of Nairobi’s slums and occasionally visited his rural home.

He said the incident has left them in shock as their elder brother was a peace-loving man.

“The perpetrator, his wife and four children fled their home soon after the murder,” said Ondabu.

The victim’s wife, Rispah Kwamboka Obara, said her husband had left home Monday evening to collect a Sh1600 debt from a friend.

“I do not know what happened. We just received news later that my husband had been speared right into his heart after he met with his assailant on the road. I do not know why the assailant attacked him yet there had been no known conflict between them,” said the mother of five.

Joshua Onderi, an uncle of the victim, narrated how the suspect committed the cold-blooded murder in full glare of the public.

“He was spotted drinking the blood by a motorbike rider who was passing by,” said Onderi.

“The killer comes from a neighbouring village but he rarely talks to people. He has no friends around and he neither visits his neighbours nor allows them into his homestead,” he added.

Gucha South police boss Moses Kanyi said they are trailing the suspect who escaped via Trans Mara and had been tracked to Sirare border town en route Tanzania.