PICTURE: Landlord Locks Tenant’s Gate With Live Snake Over Rent Arrears

A landlord from Kenya is alleged to have used a live snake to lock his tenant’s gate over rent arrears.

Samuel Kioko, who resides in the Kunda Kindu area of Kitui made headlines after it emerged that he kept his tenants out of his property by locking the gate to the house with a snake.

The incident reportedly took place in the town of Kitui in Kenya and first came to light after Nairobi governor Mike Sonko posted an image of the gate to Facebook.

In the picture, an average-sized green snake can be seen wrapped around the lock of an orange colored gate.

Writing alongside the post, Sonko explained that the landlord decided to wrap the reptile around the lock “after tenants failed to clear September and October rent arrears.”

Sonko’s post has garnered nearly 10,000 reactions as well as more than 1,400 comments on Facebook with fans divided over the property owner’s extreme approach.

Samson Robinson felt that the snake’s rights had been “infringed” by the landlord’s actions while Julius Munywoki felt the incident would “tarnish” the reputation of Kitui online.

Reporters contacted Sonko, Ngeno and the Nairobi City Council, for comment.

Snakes remain a source of constant fear and fascination on the internet.

In October, a chilling reptile video ended up going viral, showing a deadly snake in strike mode as an experienced catcher prepared to capture it.

While social media is littered with terrifying stories of close encounters with snakes, there are plenty of horror stories out there involving landlords too.