Recalcitrant Bather Meets a Soapy Fate

enyan man who did not bathe for three years met a soapy fate when an exasperated mob pursued him through the streets, peeled off his clothes and forcibly washed him in public, the semiofficial Kenya Times newspaper reported today.

The man, whose name was withheld, was set upon by odor-sensitive colleagues after he repeatedly declined invitations to break his 36-month ablutionary fast, the newspaper said.

Fellow artisans in Othaya, 60 miles north of Nairobi, chased the pungent offender through the streets, held him down and scrubbed him with soap and a rough piece of gunnysack. The sacking helped remove the accumulated layers of filth, the paper explained.

The man’s clothes were burned, and he was given a new set after friends held a collection for him.

The crowd also force-marched the man to a barber shop, where the victim had his hair cut and his beard trimmed.