A family in Kilifi demanded an explanation over the circumstances under which their kin, Isaack Lewa, died while in police custody at Chasimba Police station.
His wife Pauline Okeyo told the media on Wednesday, January 4, that the position and form in which she found her husband did not corroborate with the suicide narrative allegedly promoted by the police.
Okeyo found her husband dead in a police cell when she visited him to deliver food she had personally prepared for him.
"When he opened the cell, I found him lying on the floor on his side with a boxer on his neck. When I turned him over, his hands were tied and had foam emanating from his mouth.
"I tried to resuscitate him but he remained unresponsive. I want justice for my husband," Okeyo demanded.
In addition, the deceased had some injuries on his back. Efforts to have him rushed to the hospital for medical attention were futile.
Okeyo termed the behavior of police officers manning the station as suspicious when she requested to see him upon arrival.
When she approached the reporting desk, she claimed that two officers denied her access to Lewa and allegedly intentionally derailed her.
"They started telling me of how my husband is a wanted criminal. For about an hour, I oscillated between the two with neither of them admitting that they had the key to the cell.
"Finally, one of them laughed sarcastically before leading me to where Lewa was confined," the distraught wife narrated amid sobs.
According to a police report filed under OB Number 10/2/1/2023, Lewa died by suicide.
“When the cell was opened, the deceased body was found lying close to the cell door with his boxer tied to the neck. They tried untying the boxer from the neck but realized his body was motionless,” the report indicated.
The body was ferried to the Kilifi County hospital mortuary where a post-mortem will be conducted. The family has called for investigations to be conducted to establish how Lewa died.
Kenya Power Announces Nationwide Blackout Breaking News
