- The 19 year old man had been arrested by police officers from Lela police post on July 25.
- Three days later, his body was discovered in a thicket near Maseno town.
Image: THE STAR
A family in Kisumu is seeking justice for their son who died in unclear circumstances days after being arrested by the police.
The 19-year-old man had been arrested by police officers from Lela police post on July 25.
Three days later, his body was discovered in a thicket near Maseno town.
According to his family, Jared Ouma was arrested over theft allegations.
The deceased's cousin Charles Okumu told the Star that two policemen picked Ouma from his home at dawn.
"The officers visited our home together with the village elder a week earlier but my cousin fled," he said. On July 25, two police officers from Lela visited the home again.
They found the deceased asleep and broke into his house. "They handcuffed him and took him away. I had to ask them to stop assaulting him right in our home," he said.
Ouma and four other young men from Marera village in Kisumu had been arrested over allegations of stealing bananas from one of the homes in the village.
His accomplices were later released without being arraigned.
"The first time the police came looking for him, they had already arrested the other four suspects who were released without being taken to court," he said.
The day he was arrested, Ouma was taken to Lela police post according to his family.
"When I visited the police post later that day, he was missing. One of the officers told me that my cousin fled from lawfully custody," he said.
He was informed that the suspect took off after being directed to clean one of the offices at the police post and a toilet.
Three days later his body was found dumped in a thicket next to a car wash, with several injuries.
Police took the body to Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital mortuary.
"We got to the scene after the body had been collected by the police and taken to the mortuary," Okumu said.
Family says the body had deep cuts and some of the wounds appeared to have been inflicted by a blunt object.
On Sunday, Kisumu West subcounty DCIO Paul Langat said his office was probing the matter.
He told the Star that the family had been asked to record statements on Monday. "After they record their statements, we will conduct autopsy to establish the cause of death," he said.
Langat said investigations done so far revealed that the deceased was murdered. "Information we have collected indicate that he was murdered. Who did it remains a mystery. That is what the investigations will help us to uncover."
A distraught Margaret Owiti who took in the deceased when he was seven-years-old and raised him on Sunday asked the police to ensure justice is done.
"I took him in after he lost both parents. It is unfortunate that he has lost his life under unclear circumstances," she said.
-Edited by SKanyara