A machete-wielding farmer in Kenya destroyed his family’s kitchen after his wife allegedly saw a vision of the Virgin Mary on the walls.
Mr Onsombi, 65, from the ordinarily quiet village of Getare in Kisii county, demolished the standalone mud-brick structure after his wife, Mary Onsombi, reported seeing an apparition of the Virgin Mary in soot on the kitchen wall last weekend.
The episode, which unfolded over several days last week, drew preachers, pilgrims and journalists to the couple’s property in extraordinary numbers.
It also sparked a wider national conversation about religious fervour and the role of AI-edited imagery on social media, after a suspiciously clear version of the supposed apparition went viral online.
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The sighting occurred on Friday, when Mrs Onsombi, a devout Catholic, was preparing food beside her charcoal stove.
She described watching a pattern form in the black soot on the kitchen wall, which gradually took the shape of a veiled woman with hands joined in prayer.
Convinced she was looking at an image of the mother of Christ — her own namesake — she hurried to share the news with fellow villagers.
Neighbours quickly arrived with mobile phones to photograph the wall and footage soon spread rapidly across social media.
By the time Mr Onsombi returned on Saturday evening from a trip to Mombasa, around 400 miles away, visitors were already arriving from as far as Homa Bay on Lake Victoria and Sirare, near the Tanzanian border.
Reactions to the alleged apparition were divided.
Local Brian Nyanga’u told Citizen TV: “I saw it for myself. I saw the picture and I believe it was her.”
Others insisted they could see nothing in the dark smudge on the wall.
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Regardless, the crowds swelled dramatically.
On Sunday, pastors arrived with congregations fresh from morning services, delivering sermons along footpaths surrounding the property.
School buses carrying choir singers joined a procession of motorbikes and taxis, with visitor numbers reportedly reaching into the thousands.
Mr Onsombi, exhausted and unconvinced, told reporters that his wife may have been mistaken.
He pointed out that while photographs taken in the kitchen showed only a rough sooty mark, a far sharper image circulating online had likely been created or enhanced using AI.
By Sunday night, overwhelmed by the unrelenting intrusion, Mr Onsombi reached his limit.
He seized a farming hoe and reduced the standalone kitchen to a heap of clay rubble.
Sugarcane vendor Callen Kemunto told the Daily Nation: “He said his wife had turned his home into a market.
“He demolished the kitchen himself after he was overwhelmed by the crowds and warned everyone not to set foot in his compound again.”
Yet the destruction failed to deter the faithful.
Pilgrims, clergy and reporters continued arriving on Monday, prompting Mr Onsombi to confront them with a machete.
He shouted at those who lingered: “If you want this demolished clay, tell me so, that I can put it in carrier bags for you.”
A local boy described the scene to the Daily Nation: “He has turned wild, chasing everybody on sight. He says that there is no image of Virgin Mary in his kitchen.”
Visitor numbers dwindled over the following two days once the makeshift shrine lay in ruins.
Edward Nyakundi, a priest of the Diocese of Kisii, urged caution, reminding residents the Catholic Church maintains a rigorous and lengthy process for authenticating apparitions.
He also warned against placing trust in images encountered online.
One local church leader said: “We have had many such reports [of Virgin Mary apparitions] in Kisii. But we cannot dismiss the faith of the people.”
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