Detectives have linked the fifth member charged in the torture and sexual assault of Bruce John, a Mombasa blogger, to another case of torture in the same county.
After he was charged with four counts including abduction, gang rape, and conspiracy to commit a felony, it was established that the suspect was wanted by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Jomvu before he was apprehended.
Four victims of the previous incident had reported their ordeals at the Mikindani Police Station a few months ago on August 15, launching an extensive investigation that led to the suspect and his accomplices.
They ultimately identified the suspect as one of the people who had committed the atrocities on them at the Mombasa County Inspectorate offices under the guise of enforcing the county bylaws.
According to a police report filed by the victims, the suspect alongside several others tortured and physically assaulted the complainants at the offices located in Tudor, a case that mirrors Bruce John’s attack in September.
Bruce narrated that he had been kidnapped on September 12 by a group of over 10 individuals who broke the door to his house and blindfolded him purporting to be taking him to apologise to the Mombasa Governor.
However, this would not end up happening as he was sexually assaulted, tortured, and left for dead in a thicket where he was saved by a good Samaritan.
Four initial suspects were arrested six weeks ago and charged with abduction and sodomy of the blogger in the same Court.
This fifth suspect joins the ranks in the highly publicised case that has roped in both a County Executive Secretary and the Mombasa Governor but none of the two has been charged in the case.
At Shanzu Law Courts on Tuesday, the suspect pleaded not guilty to charges preferred on him for the assault on Bruce and was granted a Ksh500,000 bond or a cash bail of Ksh200,000.
He is currently in remand awaiting the determination of his bond application on Friday, November 15.
The prosecutor has however submitted that the suspect is a flight risk and capable of interfering with the ongoing investigations as investigations on both cases he has been implicated in are at an advanced stage and more accomplices are being rounded up.
