Police want to detain a security guard at the University of Nairobi over last week's death of a student.
Elisha Otieno Odeng alias Ras was beaten, strangled and left for dead in Central Park.
In an affidavit, corporal Phillip Bett sought to detain Spencer Kipkorir Kosgey for 10 days pending investigations.
Kosgey was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of having links to the death of Odeng.
Bett told magistrate Thomas Nzioki that a death incident was reported at Central police station on Sunday, March 8, by Brighton Tonny, the brother of the deceased.
“The brother reported that the deceased was admitted at the Kenyatta National Hospital ICU on the night of Wednesday, March 4, after he was beaten, strangled and dumped at Central Park along Nyerere Road in Nairobi,” the officer told the court.
The court heard that Odeng was arrested by Kosgey and other guards deployed to the University of Nairobi's main campus on the night of March 4.
He was beaten while he was allegedly being taken to Central police station.
“In the night of March 4, an unidentified Good Samaritan rescued the injured Odeng from the park and took him to Kenyatta National Hospital, where he was admitted,” Bett said.
Kosgey was arrested after witness statements mentioned that he led a group of private security guards deployed to the university in restraining, beating and dumping the deceased in Central Park.
A postmortem at Chiromo mortuary indicated that the cause of death was multiple injuries due to blunt force trauma and neck compression due to ligature strangulation.
Police opposed his release on bail, saying there has been tension in the university’s main campus.
Nairobi University students rioted on March 9 to protest the death of Odeng. They torched the security department’s head office and a prefabricated hostel.
Following the protest, police said Kosgey's security cannot be guaranteed at this point.
They further submitted that the guard’s character was in question as he never responded to police summons issued through the phone and if released he could interfere with investigations.
At the same time, his employers could not verify his location on Tuesday when he was supposed to be on duty as he had decided to go incommunicado making him a flight risk.
Investigators are yet to arrest other associates who are still at large and record statements from witnesses who saw the deceased being beaten and arrested.
The defense opposed the application by the police stating there is no evidence to link the suspect to the murder.
The court will rule on the guard’s detention on Friday.
Edited by A. Ndung'u
