Grandson from hell: 'He stole my Sh2,000 then chained me for six hours inside my bedroom'
Lydia Chepng’etich was held hostage, chained inside her bedroom by her grandson, who had lived with her for three weeks.
A 66-year-old woman has narrated her six-hour ordeal at the hands of her grandson, who held her in confinement as he demanded money.
Lydia Chepng’etich was held hostage, chained inside her bedroom by her grandson, who had lived with her for three weeks.
March 13 started well for Ms Chepng’etich, a resident of Ngata in Rongai sub county, Nakuru County. However, it took a different turn an hour after she took breakfast with her grandson.
Ms Chepng’etich said she noticed her metal box, where she keeps money, had been broken into, and a bag that was in the box was opened. Her Sh2,000 was missing.
She asked her grandson about the missing money, but he denied having any knowledge of where the money was.
Ms Chepng’etich recalled that the man insisted that he had not stolen the money and even volunteered to help her look for it in the bedroom, saying that it might have fallen somewhere.
The woman remembered her angry grandson asking her to get inside the bedroom so that they could look for the money together.
However, the agitated young man immediately turned against her.
Lydia Chepng’etich was held hostage, chained inside her bedroom by her grandson, who had lived with her for three weeks.
"When he asked me to go to the bedroom I agreed, not knowing he had something else on his mind. I thought he was helping me look for the money. He held me from the back and started strangling me, pulling me towards the bedroom," she recalled.
“He was shaking. He asked me if I would tell other people what had transpired, but I pleaded with him to spare my life, assuring him I will not disclose it to anyone. He went ahead and threatened to kill me if I dared reveal the secret,” she added.
Gagged and chained
That was the beginning of Ms Chepng’etich’s harrowing six hours in the room. The man chained her feet, tied her hands from the back and covered her mouth with a piece of cloth.
He then brought a kitchen knife and placed it on a cupboard next to the bed. He then demanded more money so he could set her free.
After he realised that she had no other money, he put the music player on loud, locked the room, and left.
Ms Chepng’etich said he returned an hour later, with three bananas and ordered her to eat them.
She, however, negotiated with him to only eat one because she feared her blood sugar, which she has been managing for years, would shoot up. The young man agreed and even brought her water. He, however, refused to let her go to the toilet, saying she wanted to trick him and call for help.
The traumatised woman said her grandson again left her in the room, where she tried freeing herself.
Cries for help
After much struggle, the woman managed to unchain herself around 4 pm and immediately hopped to the window, calling out to her neighbours for help.
Luckily, her neighbour’s children, coming home from school, heard her cries and notified their parents who came to her rescue.
The house where Ms Chepng’etich was held hostage by her grandson.
"He tied me from 10 am in the morning to 4 pm when children were coming from school, I had tried raising the alarm but no one heard me, I had become weak but luckily my neighbour’s child heard me and called his mother," she said.
Ms Gladys Mokaya, a neighbour, says her son came home running and told her that the granny was calling for help.
She rushed to the homestead. Once inside, she peeped through the window and saw Chepng’etich sitting on the bed, with her legs chained together. She notified other neighbours who called the police.
"We are still in shock, the incident is traumatising, and we hope she will get through it. We don’t know how the grandson escaped. He closed the door from inside, and the police are the ones who opened the door,” says Mokaya.
Rongai sub county police commander Wilberforce Sicharani said the young man was arrested by neighbours as he came back home.
The crowd, which wanted to lynch him, subjected the man to a thorough beating, and police picked him up while he was unconscious and took him to the Nakuru Level Five hospital, where he is receiving treatment.
“We are yet to establish why he decided to chain his grandmother and if he wanted to cause more harm to her," he said.
“He is responding well to treatment and will be arraigned in court once he recovers,” added the police boss.
