An MCA aspirant has been admitted in a Murang’a hospital after he was allegedly kidnapped and tortured by police.
Samuel Mwangi who is vying for the Gitugi ward seat said he was grabbed by the plainclothes police officers outside the county government offices in Murang’a town on Wednesday evening.
He said he was bundled into a vehicle with four men and several weapons and the men told him they would kill him.
He said the occupants had a list of seven people being sought but declined to tell him why they were holding him.
The aspirant said he was taken to a cell in Maragua police station that was being used as a store before he was bundled in the car again and taken to Githumu police station.
At Githumu, Mwangi said the officers put him in another cell where they tortured him until he lost consciousness.
He said when he came to, he had been dumped by the roadside and barely had the strength to call for help.
Mwangi was taken to a private health facility where doctors took an X-ray after noting that his urine had blood and his body was swollen.
“I saw the people who beat me up and I can identify them. I do not understand why they did this to me,” said the agony filled youth.
He said the officers accused him of disregarding the government and for being involved in a scuffle where the in a stadium where Kigumo MP Jamleck Kamau was meant to launch his manifesto last month.
“I told them I was not part of that scuffle before I lost consciousness and heard them say that they made a mistake picking me and that they wanted someone else,” he added.
“I am now fearing for my life because I am powerless and I do not know what they plan to do with me,” he added.
His incident evoked strong reactions from several other youths who claimed to have been mishandled by the police recently.
They accused local police of taking political sides and using brutality to silence one side of the political divide.
Nicholas Kiragu said he was called to the police station last month by OCPD Johnstone Limo who had said he wanted to talk to him, only to have him arrested later on claims that he had obstructed a police officer.
Kiragu said he was taken to Githumu police station, Ndaka-ini police station and Maragua police station over a weekend before being returned to Murang’a on Monday where he was charged with incitement to cause violence.
Stephen Mwangi also complained that he was arrested on Wednesday after the local DCIO called him to the station.
He said he was then assaulted by the deputy OCS before he was taken to court on Thursday and charged with incitement to cause violence.
The youths said they will lodge complaints with IPOA to ensure the police officers involved in the assaults are punished.
But Murang'a county commissioner John Elungata dismissed allegations of police harassment in the county.
He said on Friday that the MCA aspirant should file a complaint with IPOA once he has been discharged.