Two brothers found dead after being arrested for breaking Covid rules
The Embu Level Five Teaching and Referral Hospital in Embu County.
Two brothers were on Wednesday found dead at the Embu Level Five hospital mortuary, three days after they were arrested for allegedly breaking Covid-19 rules.
The two brothers, Benson Njiru, 22, and Emmanuel Mutura, 19, were last seen alive in Kianjokoma town on Sunday night as police arrested them for being outside during curfew hours.
Their family claimed the brothers were brutally murdered by police officers.
But Embu East police boss Emily Ngaruiya claimed the brothers died after they jumped from a moving police vehicle.
She said the brothers succumbed to injuries after they jumped from a moving police vehicle and landed on tarmac road at around 10.30pm on Sunday.
Ms Ngaruiya said police officers were enforcing Covid-19 rules when they came across the two brothers and nine other suspects on Sunday night. All the suspects were bundled into a police vehicle, the police boss said.
She said the two young men jumped out of the police vehicle without the knowledge of the officers.
When the officers arrived at the Manyatta police station, they realised that the two brothers were missing and went back to look for them, Ms Ngaruiya said.
The officers found them lying on the roadside with serious head injuries and took them to the Embu Level Five Hospital for treatment.
The police boss said the young men were declared dead on arrival at the hospital.
She said investigation is underway to establish if there was negligence on the part of the officers on duty.
The parents of the two men, John Ndwiga and Catherine Wawira, are trying to come to terms with the loss of their sons.
" Our sons have gone too soon," said Mr Ndwiga.
They claimed that their children were murdered by the police and their bodies secretly taken to the morgue without their knowledge to cover up evidence.
"We are calling on the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to get to the bottom of the matter and expose those who murdered my sons," added Mr Ndwiga.
When the brothers failed to return home on Sunday night, the family started searching for them. They later reported them as missing at the Manyatta police station. But the family says the police officers at the station seemed not to be helpful.
Later, family members decided to check the mortuary following a tip-off.
