A postmortem on the remains of the man who died under unclear circumstances after spending four days in police cells has revealed that he died of a head injury.
Festus Muthui, 26, was in detention at Bondeni Police Station in Nakuru County for days without being formally charged.
Government pathologist Titus Ngulungu, who conducted the autopsy at the Nakuru Teaching and Referral Hospital mortuary, said that the cause of death was severe head injury.
According to Dr Ngulungu, the postmortem established that the injuries were due to blunt force.
“As a result of my examination I have formed the opinion that the cause of death was severe head injury attended by global brain contusion and subdural hematoma due to multiple blunt head trauma force,” said Dr Ngulungu.
The postmortem was conducted in the presence of his family, officers from the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (Ipoa), and human rights defenders.
Mr Muthui, a mechanic, was arrested at Bondeni Police Station on December 20, 2024, after his estranged wife reported him for allegedly defiling their 12-year-old daughter.
Father to the deceased, George Mutinda, during an interview at the Nakuru County Referral and Teaching Hospital mortuary.
Photo credit: Purity Kinuthia/Mtaa Wangu
In an earlier interview, his father, Mr George Mutinda, said that he received a call from his son's employer on December 20, informing him that his son had been arrested and that he needed to travel to Nakuru.
On arrival, he met his daughter-in-law who demanded Sh30,000, which she claimed was child upkeep that Mr Muthui had not given over time.
According to Mr Mutinda, the children's department had asked his son to pay Sh2,000 monthly maintenance, which he stopped paying at some point, forcing him to intervene. He paid Sh5,400 and promised to add Sh15,000 later.
Mr Mutinda further said they agreed to meet at the police station and have Mr Muthui released the following day. However, when he was released he found his son in a bad state.
"At the station, a police officer named Ann Achieng’ attended to us. When we asked her to release Mutinda, she said she had to talk to OCS Meshak Mwangangi. A few minutes later she came back and said the OCS was demanding Sh20,000 for his son to be released," he said.
Mr Mutinda said he went out to get the money, which he was told was cash bail, and his son was released from the cells.
Shockingly, he found that his son's health had greatly deteriorated, forcing him to rush him to the hospital.
"My son was treated and the doctor's report indicated that he was depressed and he was put on medication, but shortly after he was treated, OCS Bondeni called me back and sent a police Landcruiser to take my son back to the station supposedly to sign an important document. They arrested him again,” he said
Mr Mutinda said the next day he was called by the police, who needed him urgently at the station. But when he arrived, he was shocked to see his son lying unconscious on the floor of the cells.
"I rushed him to the hospital again, accompanied by three policemen, where he was pronounced dead shortly after," he noted.
Nakuru Human Rights Network (Nahurinet) director David Kuria called on Ipoa to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident to ensure that the family gets justice.
“The station is now notorious, there is another case where an officer shot a school girl and it has never proceeded. IPOA should handle the cases properly,” he said
