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Viral CCTV footage from Utumishi Girls fire features in court arguments
Utumishi Girls students suspected of causing dormitory fire that killed 16 of their colleagues at Naivasha Law Courts on June 2, 2026.
CCTV footage from the dormitory fire that killed 16 students at Utumishi Girls’ Senior School featured prominently on day one of court proceedings Monday when suspects were arraigned.
A court in Naivasha was informed that police are investigating a murder case against the nine girls after the video footage, which recently went viral, and other preliminary evidence placed them at the centre of the arson.
The prosecution also cited the footage among reasons why the girls should not be released due to safety fears.
The girls, all Form Three students, appeared before the chief magistrate’s court on Tuesday after spending three nights in custody during the long weekend. Police are seeking to detain them for 30 more days as they continue investigations.
Police filed a miscellaneous application through State counsel Emmah Okok, who said the probe into suspected arson at the school was yet to be concluded.
According to the prosecution, investigations spearheaded by the homicide team are seeking to establish precise roles played by each of the girls. Other agencies involved in the probe include Kenya Power and the Nakuru County Disaster Management and Fire Rescue Services.
The prosecution said police are currently waiting for multiple critical technical, forensic and structural reports from the said governments agencies and required time to receive, consolidate and analyse them to finalise the inquiry.
In addition, police said the school was closed and that students who are potential witnesses are scattered across the country, thus tracing them may take time.
'Interference by suspects'
The prosecution further brought to the attention of the court the attempts by some of the girls to interfere with ongoing investigations.
The court heard that the suspects had made passionate appeals to their colleagues not to “snitch” on each other and instead blame the fire on form four students.
“Releasing them at this juncture will provide them with an opportunity to reach out to, intimidate or compromise the witnesses before investigators can formally record their statements,” read part of the statement.
The police further raised alarm over their safety noting that the CCTV footage from the school that was released to the public caused anger among members of the public who are now baying for their blood.
The application was, however, vehemently opposed by lawyers representing the minors who termed it as an attempt by the prosecution to violate on the rights of the girls.
Led by Benhard Kipkoech Ng’etich, they argued that the prosecution had failed to provide compelling reasons as stipulated in the law to warrant detention of the minors.
Mr Kipkoech urged the court to decline the application for pre-trial detention which he said is retrogressive.
“Provisions of the law do not support the pretrial detention of the minors. What the prosecution is trying to do is asking the court to violate sections of the children's act,” said Mr Kipkoech.
He instead asked the court to release the minors on bond or bail terms, noting that they are not a flight risk and are committing to appear before police or court whenever needed.
“They will not interfere with witnesses and are also willing to represent themselves in any police station if required,” he said.
The magistrate said he will rule on the application to detain them further on Wednesday June 2, 2026.
The court directed that they remain in police custody for one more night.
The girls were arrested on Friday in the aftermath of the tragedy which left 16 students dead and 79 others injured after fire broke out at Meline Waithera block dormitory.
At least six bodies have been identified while the police have taken DNA samples from parents to establish the identity of the rest who were burnt beyond recognition.
A postmortem conducted Saturday established that the primary cause of death was severe burns.
At the Naivasha Law Courts, tension remained high as parents of the victims and members of the public thronged the venue to have a glimpse of the suspected perpetrators of the heinous crime.
Heavy security was deployed to man the courts from the main entrance to the court rooms.
As the girls entered the court room clad in hooded jumpers and facemasks, all other people except lawyers and media practitioners were kept out.
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