Police in Bureti Sub-County have launched investigations into a tragic incident in Litein town where a 28-year-old car washer was fatally stabbed during an altercation with a young woman.
The incident occurred on Monday night near Stabex Petrol Station. According to police reports, the suspect, identified as 23-year-old Tashamila Cherotich, allegedly attacked Barnabas Kiprotich Bett using a kitchen knife. The blow, which struck Bett in the upper chest near the shoulder, left him critically injured.
Members of the public rushed the victim to Litein Mission Hospital in an attempt to save his life. Unfortunately, he was pronounced dead on arrival. The sudden death sparked shock and anger among residents, many of whom knew the deceased from his daily work as a car washer in the busy Litein trading centre.
Shortly after the attack, irate locals pursued the suspect and managed to trace her to a nearby residential plot, only 150 metres from where the incident took place. Enraged members of the community attempted to lynch her, but police officers intervened swiftly, rescuing her from the mob. She was placed under arrest and taken into custody.
Investigators probing the case revealed that during interrogation, Cherotich led detectives to a napier grass plantation where she had allegedly hidden the blood-stained knife believed to be the murder weapon. The kitchen knife was recovered and secured as part of the ongoing investigation.
The suspect is currently being held at Litein Police Station as detectives piece together the events leading to the fatal stabbing. Authorities have confirmed that she will be arraigned in court once investigations are completed.
Meanwhile, the body of the deceased has been preserved at Litein Mission Hospital mortuary, where a postmortem examination will be conducted to establish the exact cause of death.
The incident has left residents of Litein shaken, with many calling for a thorough probe into the circumstances surrounding the confrontation. Local leaders and residents have urged for calm as the justice process takes its course, stressing the need to allow investigators to handle the case professionally.
This tragic event has once again drawn attention to the alarming rise of violent altercations in towns across the country, where minor disputes sometimes escalate into deadly encounters.
