• Relatives and neighbours suspect foul play, saying the deceased was beaten by officers at Huho-ini police station.
• IPOA deputy chair said they doubted police allegations that the man committed suicide.
Image: Courtesy
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority is investigating a man's alleged suicide in a Huho-ini police station cell in Ol Joro Orok, Nyandarua.
Police claimed Simon Muhia, 37, committed suicide with his shirt on Sunday. He had been arrested for "being drunk and disorderly".
But relatives and neighbours suspect foul play, arguing that Muhia was beaten on Sunday morning by the arresting officers and locked up. News of his death reached them in the evening.
IPOA deputy chair JM Waiganjo told the Star on Tuesday that their investigators have recorded details of the scene and interviewed some officers at the station.
“We have scheduled a postmortem to determine the cause of death because they allege suicide. We definitely have to investigate because we have our doubts,” Waiganjo, who is the immediate former Ol Joro Orok MP, said by phone.
He said they will also record statements from those with Muhia prior to his arrest at the outlet where he was allegedly taking alcohol.
He said there were people in the cells by the time the deceased was booked in, but they were released in unclear circumstances.
"IPOA is also trying to trace two people who were in the cells. We understand they were released,” Waiganjo said.
Muhia's brother David Kinyanjui said he went the police station at 7pm after he received the sad news but was at first denied access.
“When the officers finally allowed me in, I found my brother’s half-naked body on the floor in the cells. He was only in his underwear and a t-shirt. A piece of his shirt was loosely tied around his neck."
When he asked what had happended to Muhia's trousers, he was told the garment came off when he (brother) was ordered to remove his belt before entering the cells.
Kinyanjui claimed the officers had last year told him they would kill his brother because he always got drunk and became a nuisance. He had at the time gone to secure his release after he was arrested for being drunk and disorderly.
“They told me that my brother deserves to be shot in the head because he is always a troublemaker while drunk. They threatened to kill him and now they have done it. My appeal to the government is to have this matter thoroughly investigated so we can know what transpired," he said.
Neighbours said Muhia was a hardworking farmer and not a criminal. They said he did casual jobs when he was not at his farm.
“We don’t understand how a person can kill himself using his shirt. We feel something fishy happened between him and the officers, who are alleging he was drunk at a time the President has ordered all bars closed,” Joseph Kai said.
Kai asked IPOA to establish what killed Muhia, adding that Nyandarua police should not be entrusted with the investigation.
Susan Makori said she worked with Muhia in local farms.
Waiganjo said if the investigations point to murder, IPOA will recommend that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions takes up the matter and if the death was due to something else, an inquest shoul be instituted.
Nyandarua West subcounty police commander Wanyama Nyongesa neither picked our calls nor responded to a text message.
Muhia's death happened exactly one year after a similar incident at Ngano police station in the same constituency. Samuel Njogo, 41, allegedly hanged himself using his pair of trousers.
He had been arrested for stealing a loudspeaker.
Waiganjo said investigations into Njogo’s death were concluded and an inquest recommended.
Edited by EKibii