- Leaders have demanded action on the police man and are questioning why it has taken long to take action.
- Kitui county police commander gave the assurance in the wake of condemnation of the rape incident by leaders.
Image: MUSEMBI NZENGU
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority is set to investigate an incident in which a woman who was held at a police station in Kitui was allegedly raped by a police officer.
Kitui county police commander Leah Kithei on Monday said that Ipoa had already taken up the Mumoni police station incident for investigations.
She said the case was brought to her attention only days ago. The alleged sexual molestation of the who woman who works with Kitui county as a market cleaner is said to have taken place on the night of September 23, more than two weeks ago.
"You know the police cannot investigate themselves. I have already instructed the subcounty police commander of the area to open a file and file statements that will be handed over to Ipoa," she said.
Kithei further said once the investigations are finalised, the appropriate action would be taken. She said the Ipoa team is expected in Mumoni as early as Tuesday morning.
The county police chief gave the assurance in the wake of condemnation of the rape incident by leaders.
The leaders urged the police to take action against the policeman.
The Mumoni MCA Titus Kasinga and former area councilor Kimanzi Wandusya wondered why the police have not taken action on the incident.
The duo said it was unacceptable and inhuman that a policeman took advantage of a helpless woman whom they held in custody for an alleged offence of theft of police exhibit and raped her.
On Monday morning, the Kitui Gender and Social Services executive Hellena Ken said her officers, in collaboration with the National Gender and Equality Commission, had delved into the matter to ensure justice for the county employee.
She, however, said the team’s efforts to have audience with the Mumoni OCS and the subcounty police commander when they visited the area on Friday failed as both of them were out of office.
Wandusya told the Star on phone that the victim lost her goat and when a police officer recovered it, they asked her to go to the Mumoni police station to identify it on the afternoon of September 23.
He added that since the woman found the police station unmanned, she waited for long for a police officer to show up to no avail. She then decided to take her recovered goat home but without the permission of the police.
The former councillor said later that evening, police officers arrested and booked the woman in the cells for the alleged offence of theft of police exhibit.
It was then that a policeman allegedly raped her in the night, Wandusya said.
The Mumoni subcounty police commander Morris Gudha was said to be on leave when we visited his office last Friday to get his comment over the matter. He did not pick our calls when we reached him on Monday.
(edited by Amol Awuor)