Two university students were on Saturday arrested on allegations of kidnapping and torturing a teenager.
The students from Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology (JKUAT) were apprehended in a residential area in Juja where they had hidden the 12-year old victim.
21-year old Levis Oduor, who is a cousin to the boy, and Edwin Otieno reportedly abducted the child in Nairobi West before hiding him in the rented hostel.
According to police, the suspects then started calling the victim's parents demanding for a Sh500,000 ransom in order to release him.
To confuse the authorities, they would switch their victim between Juja and another house in Kawangware, from where they would make most of the calls, before taking the boy back to the hostel.
The students are also said to have tortured the teenager since he was found with wounds on his stomach and back.
"Unfortunately the boy knew the kidnappers and wondered why they were beating him while giving him a phone to communicate with the parents," stated Nairobi DCI boss Nicholas Kamwende.
During the rescue operation, one of the suspects reportedly attempted to drown himself in a water tank to escape arrest but was unsuccessful. The child was later admitted at Nairobi Hospital.
