Three men lost their lives yesterday after an irate mob descended on them crushing them to a pulp, after they snatched a handbag from a woman in Thika’s Makongeni’s area, Kiambu County.

The trio who were on a motorbike had attacked a woman who was going about her business at Polysack area before escaping towards Thika town on a red getaway motorbike whose plates were missing.

The woman’s screams of distress caught boda boda riders and a few other young men who were ‘eating root’ at a nearby ‘nduthi’ shed waiting for a squad, by surprise. 

This prompted the boda boda riders to give chase after the bike at breakneck speed, as no less than 30 motorbikes flew past the busy highway baying for the trio’s blood. 

As the pack approached Delta petrol station, the unexpected happened. A matatu that was speeding like the legendary Riakanau bus on free gear while descending the Kambiti and Kangocho valleys towards Sagana, suddenly appeared.

And as the bike swerved to avoid a head-on collision, its rider lost control and the trio crushed on the tarmac with a thud! 

What followed was a beating the thugs had never experienced in their lifetime as the boda boda riders descended on them with blows and kicks accusing them of soiling their good name by using motorbikes as their gateway means after committing crime.

By the time police officers who were attending to other emergencies arrived, the three had unfortunately been crushed like cocoyam leaves in preparation for the ebunu ebunu delicacy and their bodies set ablaze. 

Police moved their charred remains to General Kago hospital morgue to await identification by their kin.

Meanwhile, three knives belonging to the suspects, a mobile phone and personal effects robbed from the victim were recovered.

Members of the public are advised not to take the law into their own hands but hand over such suspects to police for justice in a court of law.