An assistant chief and an administration officer in Meru were on Thursday arraigned in court and charged with the murder of a suspect who was in their custody.
Antubariku Sub-Location Assistant Chief Kennedy Karuwa Bariu and Salesio Galgallo the AP officer-in-charge of Kiraone AP were accused of torturing Erick Mwenda to death.
The two appeared at the Meru High Court before Resident Judge Alfred Mabeya where they denied the charges.
On Wednesday, they failed to stop the court from charging them with the death which occurred on June 6, 2018.
The court released them on a Ksh 500,000 bond each with surety or Ksh 300,000 cash bail.
It is claimed that the two assaulted Mwenda in Antubariku village, Igembe South in Meru County leading to his death.
When passing the ruling on bail Justice Mabeya also ordered the prosecution to provide the accused with all civilian witness statements and phone data to be used in the case.
Earlier, Justice Ann Ong’injo had dismissed an application by the two seeking to stop the State from prosecuting them for the death.
Through their Lawyer Kiogora Mugambi, they argued that they were not at the crime scene when the deceased was killed.
The family reported the murder incident to Maua Police Station through OB number 49/18/2018 in which they alleged that Mwenda had died of natural causes and mentioned him and the officer as persons of interest.
