A man from Tana River has camped at the Muslims for Human Rights offices in Mombasa saying his life is in danger.
Muhuri rapid response officer Francis Auma says the organisation is actively seeking a safe house for Buya Gafafa Tune who lost his son, Bakari Waticha Tune, on November 30 last year under unclear circumstances.
Bakari was a Form 2 student at Minhaj Secondary School.
Tune says those he accused of being responsible for his son’s death might be plotting something sinister against him after he took them to court.
“After being released on bail, they (the three police reservists) celebrated and boasted that nothing will happen to them. I feel they might do anything,” Tune said.
He says he fears for the lives of his wife, his mother-in-law and three remaining children.
There are contradictory reports over the circumstances under which Bakari died.
According to Tana River county commissioner Oning’oi Ole’sosio, who has been quoted by a section of the media, Bakari was beaten by family members at their home in an attempt to discipline him.
Ndera chief Mohamed Abae got wind of the incident and went to rescue the boy.
“By the time he got to the scene, the boy had been seriously injured. The chief sought to rescue the boy but he died from excessive bleeding on their way to the dispensary,” Ole’sosio is quoted as saying by the Daily Nation on April 25.
However, Tune told the Star on Friday that the county commissioner’s version of the story is false.
He said the chief, in the company of three KPR members, went and picked his son from his house, took him to his office and beat him up.
“I was not there, but my family did not beat up my son,” said Tune.
He acknowledged that his son had injured his mother and Tune’s wife with a machete after she accused him of stealing some money from her.
Tune said a neighbour reported the matter to chief Abae who then rushed to the scene with the three KPRs and picked Bakari.
“My wife had gone to hospital and I was not at home. The only person present when they picked my son was his grandmother [mother of his wife]."
“They took him to his office and beat him up until he fainted. They then sent some boda boda guys to rush him to hospital,” Tune said.
He said his son was alive when he reached the hospital and that one of the doctors who attended to him said he was in the last moments. He died a short moment later.
Auma says the county commissioner should let the investigative agencies do their work and not comment on the matter.
“He appears to have already come to a conclusion, which is premature. There is a court case over this matter. He should not make any subjective comments,” Auma said.
Residents have demanded the resignation of the chief.
But county commissioner Ole’sosio says chiefs in the county have become soft targets of malicious people who want them out of office.
He says there are five cases in which residents want chiefs sacked in less than a year, citing malice.
(Edited by R.Wamochie)
