By Idriss LAWAL
A man accused of brutally killing his mother in Nyandarua County-Kenya has been acquitted of murder after the High Court found that he was suffering from a mental illness and was incapable of understanding or controlling his actions when the fatal attack occurred.
The court ruled that although Harrison Gicheha Githinji caused the death of his mother, Leah Waithira Githinji, the prosecution had failed to prove the mental element required to sustain a murder conviction.
The court heard that the incident occurred on September 2, 2022, at Soilo village in Kinangop Sub-county, where Githinji attacked his mother with a walking stick, inflicting severe injuries that later proved fatal.
According to the prosecution, the accused had disagreed with the deceased over issues that were not clearly established during the trial. During the confrontation, he used a stick fitted with a nut at one end to repeatedly beat her.
She later succumbed to the injuries.
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Witnesses who were present at the scene painted a disturbing picture of the attack.
Joy Muthoni, a granddaughter of the deceased, testified that she was inside the house with her grandmother when the accused arrived carrying food. She questioned him about eating food meant for a baby, prompting an angry response.
The witness told the court that the accused ordered her to keep quiet before picking up a walking stick from beneath a bed. He then began making bizarre statements, claiming that people in the house had been “sold to the devil” and insisting that the deceased was his sister rather than his mother.
The confrontation escalated when he demanded keys from the deceased.
When she failed to hand them over, he pulled and pushed her, causing her to hit a wall. He then struck her on the head with the walking stick.
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Continuing the assault, the elderly woman fled from the house in an attempt to escape, but the accused pursued her while continuing the assault.
Joy told the court that when she tried to follow them, the accused threatened to attack her as well, forcing her to flee. By the time she looked back, her grandmother was lying near a latrine.
Another witness, Samuel Githinji Kung’u, a grandson of the deceased, testified that upon arriving at the scene he found his grandmother lying on the ground while the accused continued beating her with a stick.
He said he was able to observe the attack with the help of a rechargeable lamp that the accused was carrying.A third witness, Benson Ruhi Githinji, also testified that he found the accused striking the deceased with a walking stick.
When he asked why he was assaulting his mother, the accused did not respond and instead let out a roar.Medical evidence presented in court showed that the injuries inflicted during the assault were catastrophic.
A post-mortem examination conducted by Dr Titus Ngulungu revealed that the deceased suffered severe head injuries, including a fractured skull, brain contusions, significant blood loss and multiple blunt-force injuries to the head.
The doctor concluded that the injuries directly caused her death.
In his defence, Githinji did not deny visiting his mother’s home on the day of the incident. However, he told the court that he had been feeling unwell and had informed his mother that he was seeing strange visions.
He said he told her that he could see “things opening their mouths.”
His mother responded by praying for him and advising that he should be taken to hospital if the condition persisted. The accused testified that the last thing he remembered seeing was something that looked like a cat. After that, he could not recall what happened.
