- Independent Police Oversight Authority took up the matter to verify the circumstances of Mochoge’s death.
- The postmoterm indicated that he succumbed to strangulation. There was a pressure build up on the neck.
Image: FAMILY
A family whose relative died in a Juja police station have disputed a postmortem report that shows he died by suicide.
Police told the family of Dennis Mochoge that he tore up his trousers and used them to commit suicide inside the station’s cell.
The 37-year-old man had been arrested on September 3 after a squabble with his estranged wife in Mung’etho, Juja, where he lived.
The day after he was booked in, his family was informed that officers had taken his body to General Kago mortuary in Thika after he allegedly killed himself.
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority took up the matter to verify the circumstances of Mochoge’s death.
The postmortem indicated that he succumbed to strangulation. There was a pressure buildup on the neck.
Also, there was no sign of struggle on the body, expected from someone trying to save his life.
But the family told the Star that they do not trust the outcome of the exercise.
The deceased's brother, Sten Mochoge told the Star on Monday that they were not given a copy of the report and were not fully involved in the exercise, hence, their fears of foul play were not allayed.
“We did not even see the report. We were only told vaguely by the Ipoa representative that it was indeed suicide,” he said.
Sten said the body was ferried to their Kisii home and buried last Wednesday.
Even if they are to believe that their brother killed himself, he said, the fact that there is no clarity on the circumstances of the alleged suicide is even more concerning.
“How do we know that Dennis was not actually strangled or forced into submission before being strangled? A lot of questions. Tulichezwa,” he said.
Efforts to obtain a copy of the report or any further information from Ipoa were futile as they did not pick up our call nor reply to our messages.
The bereaved family says foul play is still on their mind but that “they lack any means of pursuing further justice.”
The family said officers refused to let them inspect the cells where the alleged suicide happened.
They were also not given sufficient information and the officers were discourteous, they said.
Francis Auma, the Rapid Response Officer at Muhuri, the lobby that was following up on the matter, told the Star he also did not get a copy of the report.
“I have also not seen the report. I was only told verbally that it was suicide,” he said.
-Edited by SKanyara