Kisii cannibalism claim reignites old myths after ex-convict kills, cooks wife

Not so long ago, the dead in the Gusii region did not have peace even after they were buried.

There were believes that witches or other weirdos would dig out the body from the graves to be used for witchcraft purposes, while others claimed the bodies were eaten.

It is a tale that has been passed down through generations, but elders discredit it as a myth, although they acknowledge that after burial, family members used to spent several days guarding the graves of loved ones.

This week, the bizarre incident where a man reportedly murdered his wife and cooked her flesh for their children elicited debate about the myths surrounding cannibalism in the region.

Stephen Onserio, an ex-convict from Bosansa Village in Nyacheki, Kisii County, who was pardoned through power of mercies of the capital offense of killing his first wife in 2007, butchered the new wife, Evelyn Nyaboke at their matrimonial home, dismembered her body before cooking her flesh and feeding it to their two children.

According to villagers, the children said their father cooked meat, which they could not tell where it had came from, and served it to them.

One of the children is a 13-year-old girl, who is mentally challenged, and a two-year-old boy.

Following the gory incident that left many in shock, irate members of the Community lynched the man, aged 55, after he reportedly confessed to killing the woman, cutting her body into pieces, and cooking some of it.

The villagers, upon visiting the house, found pieces of the woman's body in the compound.

The man, the villagers said, confirmed that the piece of cooked flesh that was found in the cooking pot in the house was part of Nyaboke's body.

It could not be immediately ascertained when the man committed the act, but it was suspected that it may have happened about four days prior to the discovery by the villagers.

After committing the act, Onserio is said to have roamed the village with his youngest child, looking confused.

"He was aimlessly roaming the village and the shopping centre with the boy. This was very unusual of him. Normally, he would be at home with his wife, or if he was walking away from home, he would be walking alone. We suspected that something amiss," a villager explained.

The suspicion about Onserio's mental status prompted villagers to inquire about the whereabouts of his wife and why he was walking around with the toddler, who would otherwise be with his mother.

According to Boniface Abel, a neighbour, when Onserio failed to give them a satisfactory answer, the villagers visited his home to find out what was happening.

On arrival, the villagers were met with a foul smell that was emanating from the house. They forced him to open the house.

Upon getting in, the villagers found pieces of cooked and uncooked meat, believed to be part of Nyaboke's mutilated body.

"Some of the dismembered parts had been cooked. His eldest child, who is a 13-year-old mentally challenged girl, was found locked inside the house," Abel said.

The villagers are said to have questioned Onserio before he reportedly confessed to having killed his wife.

"He confessed and said he had been cooking his children their mother's flesh. The irate villagers pounced on him and set him on fire a few metres from the house," Abel added.

Nyamache Sub-county Police Commander Kipkemoi Kipkulei said they rushed to the lynching scene immediately a local administrator alerted them but were too late.

"We recovered a human head and a thigh that had started rotting. We collected the dismembered body parts and Onserio's body and took them to Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital(KTRH) mortuary," he said.

The police boss further revealed that the lynched man was an ex-convict who had returned home from prison two years ago.

The police boss said the man had been arrested and arraigned in 2007 for killing his wife.

"We established that he had been sentenced after he was found guilty of killing his first wife in 2007. He returned two years ago," Kipkulei said.

The incident has elicited sharp debate among Kenyans over the old claims of cannibalism among members of the community.

Samuel Bosire Angwenyi, the Secretary General of Abagusii Council of Elders, dismisses the claims saying it was a myth which some people blindly believed.

"If there is a person who can eat a fellow human being, then that must be Satan. Satan is not manifested only in Gusii but anywhere across the globe," Angwenyi says.

In the past, members of the community would guard the graves of their deceased relatives due to fear that witches would dig out the bodies and eat them or use them in dark arts.

This, Angwenyi says, has been a myth which modern people have come to realize was just a way of helping bereaved families recover from the trauma of losing a loved one.

After the burial of a dead person, young people and even elders would continue keeping vigil at the graveside to guard the buried corpse.

But according to Angwenyi, the hidden reason for the vigil was to keep the family company until they emotionally healed from the pain of losing their loved one.

"Such were myths which led to Abagusii earning a bad name as corpse eaters. But it never has been. No one can eat decomposing flesh...such are wild claims which would never be proved," Angwenyi says.

Mzee Billy Onchiri from Chitago Village says the case of Onserio cannot be used to condemn a whole community.

"This (Onserio) is someone whose state of mind may have not been good. He could do anything, including kill and cook his wife," Onchiri says.