A 16-year-old primary school drop-out died at the Kabete Police Station hours after he was arrested. The family of James Mugo Waithira claimed that he died after he was assaulted by a senior police officer at the police station on September 16. A family member, who claimed to have viewed Mugo’s body at the City Mortuary, said it had multiple visible injuries.
Dagorretti Deputy Police boss Duncan Nguthu, under whose jurisdiction Kabete Police Station falls, yesterday confirmed that Mugo died in custody after collapsing. Nguthu said Mugo, a robbery with violence suspect, was arrested on September 16 and died on the morning of September 17 as he was being rushed to Kenyatta National Hospital after he collapsed.
Three other suspects who had been arrested together with Mugo, but later released, claimed that they had witnessed police officers clobber Mugo to death inside the cells. They have since gone into hiding after they allegedly received death threats from the police.
The three said they feared for their lives after they decided to expose the police who clobbered Mugo to death.
Mugo’s three family members have since been killed by the police in controversial circumstances. Another family member is said to have disappeared. His whereabouts remain unknown to date.
The trio claim they were released on September 17, by the station boss without any charges being preferred against them. They claim they were never told the reason for their arrest. They had been arrested by plain clothes police officers at a carwash in Dagoretti. Yesterday, Nguthu declined to reveal why the police had not preferred charges on the three arrested together with Mugo.
The three, whose identity cannot be revealed because of security reasons, have lodged complaints with Nairobi Province CID boss Peter Muinde and CID Director of Complaints Lilian Kiamba. Yesterday, Muinde said he had never met the family of the deceased, while Kiamba could not be reached for a comment.
They have also recorded statement with the Independent Medico Legal Unit and the Kenya National Human Rights Commission over the death of Mugo while in Police custody. They claim that Mugo, whose body was taken to the City Mortuary on September 17 by police from Kabete, was attacked by two officers.
They claim that the two officers hit Mugo with a club leading to his death. A postmortem will be conducted on Tuesday to establish the cause of death. Mugo is a younger brother of 21-year-old James Kamau who disappeared after he was allegedly picked by police from Kabete Police Station on December 22 2010.
He is also a cousin to two other brothers, Jackson Kinyanjui and Mugo Wanjiru, who have also been shot dead by police in mysterious circumstance. He is a childhood friend, school mate and neighbour to 28-year-old Joseph Kori, a hawker, who was among the 14 suspects whose bodies were discovered dumped at the Kinale Forest after allegedly being arrested by police from said police station.
Police and a Parliamentary Committee, who conducted investigations into the controversial Kinale murders, are yet to establish the killers. Kamau, was a matatu tout on route 102-Kikuyu, is reported to have gone missing after being arrested by police officers believed to be from Kiamumbi Police Station in Kasarani.
The family is yet to trace Kamau, who is believed to have been wanted by police over crime. Interestingly, no formal report has ever been made by the family over his disappearance. Mugo is a first cousin to 16-year-old Jackson Kinyanjui, who was shot dead by police on Nduaru road, Dagorretti, on December 31 2010. Kinyanjui is a brother to 27-year-old Mugo Wanjiru, a bar operator whose body was discovered at the City Mortuary days after he was picked up by people believed to be police officers from Kabete Police Station.
According to relatives, Wanjiru was telephoned by a friend who asked to meet him when he disappeared. The family suspects that the ‘friend’ was used to lure Wanjiru to his death. He was buried on August 17 at the family home in Gikambura.
Source: NAIROBI STAR
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