Makueni: 1-Year-Old Baby Detained With Mother Dies In Police Custody

• Police are investigating four police officers in Makueni county following the death of a one-and-a-half-year-old child
• According to reports, the Mother, Zipporah Muteti, missed a slap that landed on the deceased's ears, making him unconscious.
• Kambu Hospital's chief administrator said the child arrived dead in the hospital, but an autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death

Police in Makueni are investigating an incident where a one-and-a-half-year-old died at Kambu Police Station on Wednesday, May 29.

According to a family member, the baby was detained at the police station following a debt case despite calls to let the child get treatment.

"The child was locked together with the mother on Wednesday, but he died later on Saturday," a family member said.

The family lamented against the police's alleged refusal to have the child taken to the hospital by the mother, even after pleas for the child to be under treatment.

"If these are the people to protect human life, and are very human what would have it cost them to let the child be taken for treatment with the neighbours and remain with if she was the suspect?" he questioned.

How did the child die?

Narrating the events that led to the tragic demise of the child, the mother, Zipporah Muteti, claimed the police forcefully dragged her out of her shop as they slapped her.

While she was trying to evade a slap, it landed on the baby, making him unconscious. This was after she requested to take her child to the hospital.

"They pulled me out of the shop and slapped me after I requested to take my child to the hospital in Makindu. While dragging me out, I missed the slap that landed on the child's ears before he passed out," Muteti recounted.

Reports state that the child was subjected to physical torture during the arrest, claims which the deputy police commander at Kambu Police Station, Ahmed Hussein, refuted.

Abdulaziz Ali, the chief administrator at Kambu Hospital, said the child arrived dead and is awaiting an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

'It was discovered that the child was already dead, but the cause of the death is not clear. We are awaiting an autopsy to give clear details," Ali stated.

Man found dead in police custody

Elsewhere, the lifeless body of a suspect awaiting arraignment was discovered in his cell during a morning check by cell officers at Hurara police station.

The body of the deceased was found hanging on the cells' window grill at 5:30 am.

The man was reported to have killed himself using a string cord from a clothing material.

Proofreading by Mercy Nyambura Guthua, journalist and copy editor at TUKO.co.ke

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A police van outside the police station.

Makueni: 1-Year-Old Baby Detained with Mother Dies in Police Custody

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