Police in Karatina on the spot for shooting four-year-old girl
Police pursue protesters during Nane Nane anti-government demonstrations in Karatina town, Nyeri County, on August 8, 2024.
Three days after protests in Karatina town Nyeri County, details have emerged that a four-year-old girl was among at least twenty people who were shot and injured.
This comes as police say five of their own were also injured and two of their vehicles had their windscreens smashed.
Those admitted to Karatina Hospital are Ivana Gathigia (4 years), Eric Waigwa (23), Brian Mwangi (28), Sarah Githinji (52), Baxton Mwangi (35), Kelvin Gicheru (19) and Cynthia Mera (19), while another victim, Wycliffe Thiong'o (25), a local hairdresser, has been referred to Kenya National Hospital for specialised treatment.
When Nation.Africa visited the hospital on Saturday, August 10, most of the victims still had bullets lodged in their bodies as they awaited surgery.
Baby Ivana had a bandage on her right hand and X-rays showed some shrapnel still lodged in her arm.
Her mother, Ms Eunice Gathigia, said she had just picked up her daughter from a nearby nursery and was walking down the street when the police suddenly started shooting indiscriminately.
As she tried to dodge the bullets and take cover, the confused girl slipped out of her hand and she was hit by a stray bullet. Fortunately, she said, the bullet didn't hit her directly, but hit a wall first, causing a minor injury.
She said that when she saw what had happened to her daughter, she thought the girl had been shot.
She lost consciousness for a moment and when she regained consciousness a few minutes later, her daughter was nowhere to be seen.
She said a friend later called and informed her that Ivana was rushed to the hospital where she was admitted.
"It is by the grace of God that she is alive, it could have been worse if the bullet had hit her, I don't think the police were aiming at her, but what happened to her has no justification, it is very traumatising for me and my daughter," she said.
Other injured gave similar accounts of how they were shot, saying they were just victims of circumstances and in no way participated in the demonstrations.
Two victims are in critical condition with gunshot wounds to the abdomen and chest, while the rest sustained bullet wounds to the legs after police used live bullets to quell the protests.
Nyeri County Director of Medical Services Dr Nelson Muriu said the Ministry of Health had mobilised doctors to attend to the patients in the operating theatre.
Speaking to Nation.Africa at his office, Mathira East sub-county police commander Samson Leweri, who himself was injured in the leg by a stone thrown by a protester, said five police officers were also nursing injuries after being hit by stones. Two of their vehicles had their windscreens smashed during the protests.
Mr Leweri was non-committal on the actual number of victims of police brutality, only admitting that 'a number of thugs' had been injured.
The shooting of innocent residents comes just a week after Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua ordered security agencies in Nyeri County to stop the weekly demonstrations in his home town.
Two weeks ago, two other secondary school students were caught in the crossfire and shot dead by police. Eustace Chiira, a student at Kiamwangi Secondary School, was treated for gunshot wounds at Karatina Level 4 Hospital, but doctors recommended he be transferred to Kenyatta Referral Hospital, where his leg was amputated.
