A form three student has been arrested by police in Tharaka Nithi County as the main suspect in the murder of his classmate over the weekend.
The body of the deceased, 17-year old Lewis Muthomi, was found lying in a pool of blood at Magutuni market in Maara sub-county on Sunday evening by residents who alerted Kiera chief Protasio Mutembei. The deceased was a student at Maguma Day Secondary School.
According to a resident who did not want to be named, the students had fought earlier on Saturday over a woman who works at a bar at the market.
“After fighting, the suspect left but returned at around 9 pm. He stabbed his classmate in the neck with a knife,” the resident said.
Police were reportedly informed about the murder at around 10 pm.
But speaking to journalists at his office in Chogoria town, Maara OCPD Johnston Kabusia said they had not received reliable information on the circumstances around the murder.
The police boss said the deep cut on the front side of the victim’s neck indicated that a knife was used in the attack.
Officers from Chogoria Police Station arrested the suspect at his home in Maara sub-county, where they found a blood-stained knife and clothes.
Kabusia asked residents to help them and said investigators would ask the court for more time to hold the student for investigations.
Some villagers attributed the murder to the consumption of illicit brews at the market and asked police to arrest the brewers.
