Swaleh Shedu Swaleh can barely walk and his manhood cannot function following beatings he allegedly received from Kenyan Defense forces (KDF) soldiers conducting an operation in Lamu, a court heard on Wednesday.
Swaleh claims he was tortured the whole night and had his private parts hit several times at the Mokowe police station where he was held up following suspicions that he had been involved in last month’s killings at Hindi village.
The torture allegations emerged at the Mombasa court as Swaleh and a second suspect Joseph Chege Kimani appeared before Justice Maureen Odero to have their murder charges read against them.
KDF soldiers deployed to Lamu County on a joint operation allegedly stripped Swaleh naked during his arrest and kicked him several times in his private parts in a bid to have him confess.
Swaleh was arrested some time on July 26 after he was spotted at night towing a vehicle along the Hindi area during a night attack on July 5 that resulted in the death of 12 people.
The soldiers are alleged to have slapped the Mokowe police station OCS in public when he attempted to command some of his officers to join the operation to flush out the gunmen sympathizers living in villages.
“My client has suffered serious injuries in his private parts that need a quick medical attention after he was tortured during his arrest. His manhood cannot function,” said Lawyer Jared Magolo.
Magolo yesterday applied to have his client seen by a private doctor and to have him access a private medical facility for his treatment.
Senior State counsel Alex Muteti who is prosecuting the case said he was shocked by the torture allegations by the suspect and sought to have the allegations probed.
