Residents of Iranya in Kitutu Masaba Constituency, Nyamira County, have held protests demanding justice over the death of a 24-year-old man who reportedly died while in police custody in Naromoru.The residents held a peaceful demonstration following the death of Dennis Oremo, who was arrested by officers from Naromoru Police Station before he was later found dead inside a police cell.According to Oremo’s family, he had been working on a farm in Naromoru when police arrested him over allegations that he had assaulted his employer.Police officers at the station reportedly told the family that Oremo was found hanging inside the cell using a piece of mattress covering that had been in the room where he was being held.The family has rejected the account and is calling for an independent investigation to establish the circumstances surrounding his death.Oremo’s relatives have appealed to Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) and Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen to intervene and investigate the case.His mother, Ruth Moraa, described her son as a peaceful person and questioned the circumstances surrounding his death.“My son was a very polite man who never had quarrels with anyone. Even here at home, if you could send him somewhere, he could just go without any questions,” Moraa said.The family is also questioning why Oremo was not taken to court after his arrest, while relatives said they now face the financial and emotional burden of organising his funeral.His uncle, Angley Nyangena, said the family wanted authorities to provide a clear account of what happened while Oremo was in police custody.“It seems that even people in police custody have no security. So the government should tell us what happened without hiding anything from us,” Nyangena said.The case comes amid renewed scrutiny over deaths of suspects while in police custody, with the National Police Service outlining new measures in August for handling such incidents.On August 13, the NPS said investigations into any death occurring in police custody would begin immediately, with officers who were on duty at the time treated as persons of interest.The service said the investigations would be thorough and impartial and would seek to establish the circumstances surrounding each death.
This page contains an attributed headline and the preview text supplied through the publisher’s RSS feed. Copyright in the original reporting belongs to Kenyans.co.ke.
