A city court has arraigned a young man from Dagoreti area in Nairobi, Kenya for setting his mother’s home worth Ksh 1.3 million (N4.7m) ablaze over food.

The suspect identified as Joseph Njuguna, reportedly arrived home tipsy and reportedly expected food to be ready but got so disappointed when he found out that his mother was still cooking.

Njuguna reportedly complained over the late cooking and “vowed to do something” after he was directed to wait for supper in his room by his mother. He returned and picked up an argument with his mother before leaving briefly.

The mother while still in the house, realized there was smoke everywhere and subsequently saw that the house was on fire.

She tried to rush to safety but the door had been locked from outside, with the accused suspected to have locked her inside the house. The devastated mother screamed for help and was rescued by neighbors who responded.

The fierce fire ravaged the whole house leaving nothing to chance. The court heard that the accused went into hiding at a friend’s house which pushed members of the public into launching a manhunt for him.

He was found at his hiding place while drinking alcohol and was beaten by a mob until his mother intervened and rescued him. It was gathered that she took him to a hospital for treatment.

Police were alerted and the accused was arrested and taken in for interrogation. “Joseph Njuguna unlawfully and willfully torched his mother’s house on November 6 within Nairobi’s Dagoreti area,” the charge sheet read in part.

When he was arraigned before Senior Principal Magistrate Esther Bhoke, the accused pleaded not guilty and was slapped with a bond of Ksh, 500,000 pending mention on November 22.