A woman was shot dead by a gang that struck at a market in Nyamira town. Ms Agnes Nyaboga, who operates a butchery, was shot at Nyabite open air market on Sunday as she visited a relative’s shop.

Eye witnesses said they initially thought the gangsters were police officers on patrol. “But they started robbing people and threatening to kill those who resisted,” Mr Lewis Nyakweba, a teachers’ union official, who was also a victim, said.

Ms Nyaboga died at the Nyamira Nursing Home. Nyamira police chief Shedrack Maithya said three people had been arrested. “The robbers did not steal anything from the woman or those with her,” he said, adding that the motive of the attack was being investigated. In Gucha District, a mother killed her two-and-a-half year-old son for allegedly eating vegetables meant for the family’s supper.