Two women linked with the killing of a 25-year-old man over Sh3, 000 alcohol bill, incurred during a drinking spree were charged with murder at the High Court in Embu county Wednesday.
Caroline Njeru, 24, and Joyce Nyaga, 40, waiters at Club Rocash in Kangaru area of Manyatta Constituency, were charged with beating to death Tom Musyoki on June 13 after he failed to settle the bill.
Musyoka, who recently graduated with a Bachelor of Education Degree from Mt. Kenya University was on the fateful day accompanied by his friend Maurice Munene who survived the attack.
The suspects who were arrested a few days later after the incident had been in custody, awaiting completion of investigations and mental examination that established they are fit to stand trial.
They duo who were brought before Judge Lucy Njuguna denied the charges and pleaded with the court to release them on reasonable bail terms to enable them take care of their families.
“I am pleading with the court to release the two on lenient bail terms because they are people of meager means and the sole breadwinners of their families,” lawyer Muchangi Gichugu for the accused persons pleaded.
The court allowed the application and released them on bonds of Sh.800,000 with similar sureties or alternative cash bail of Sh300, 000 each. The case will come up for mention on September 20 for pre-trial directions.
The victim’s mother, Jacinta Matheka, speaking the following day after the incident said she received a call at around 11 pm on the material day informing her that her son was being beaten for declining to settle an alcohol debt he had incurred alongside his friend.
She said it took the intervention of villages to rescue the two who were already unconscious by the time the attackers stopped beating them after settlement of the bill.
Musyoki died hours later that night at the Kerugoya county hospital, where he had been rushed for treatment while his friend is still recuperating at home after successful treatment.
