UPDATE: On Thursday, February 13, Nairobi Principal Magistrate Hellen Okwani ordered that four Chinese nationals arrested after a video of the caning of a Kenyan worker at Chez Wou Restaurant went viral, be detained for an additional 15 days.
“Police have sought 21 days to complete investigations and the court has taken note of the decision of the High Court which is binding.
“The court has considered the fact that the accused persons are a flight risk and will abscond court,” the court ruled while justifying holding them for 15 days.
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The Chinese national who was captured on video whipping a Kenyan worker will spend more time in police custody following a court decision to detain him on Monday, February 10.
Citizen TV was the first to report that the man, Deng Hailan, alongside three other colleagues who were nabbed, would spend three more days in the custody as police carried out investigations pending a ruling on their bail application.
The four, who are facing charges of assault and causing bodily harm, were arraigned at the Milimani Law Courts with the prosecution demanding they be detained for 21 days.
The defendants, however, argued that the charges were not serious enough to warrant them being held for three weeks.
“The charges are not serious to warrant 21 days…The prosecution doesn’t need the 21 days to investigate.
"The video shared on social media has generated public interest but we must not lose sight. There are always two sides of a story and the video doesn’t give us the context,” they argued.
The court is scheduled to make a ruling on the bail application on Thursday, February 13.
The victim of the beating identified as Simon Osieko, on Saturday, February 8, told K24 TV that disclosed that the boss had a special cane that he kept in his office for caning workers that arrived late for work.
The former employee further alleged that he had endured the beating for the six months he worked at the restaurant because he was afraid of losing his job.
"When he whipped me, I asked him why he had done that and he bluntly asked me 'do you want to continue working or not? Since you came late, I must beat you before you start working.'
"He gave me two strokes. It was so painful because I could not sit down," narrated Osieko.
When reached by Kenyans.co.ke, the restaurant owner identified as Deng, said Osieko and a chef were only playing and he had agreed to receive the lashes of the whip for Ksh100 each.
Police officers' investigations into the matter is being supported by the Chinese government.
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