Family demands autopsy of boy who died in police custody

A 15-year-old boy, arrested for allegedly assaulting his 16-year-old girlfriend, died by suicide in Bamba Police Station cells on Sunday evening.

Police arrested Crispus Baraka, a Form Two student at Godoma Boys High School in Ganze, on Friday after his girlfriend’s parents filed a complaint against him.

Ganze sub-county police commander Paul Yator said they arrested Baraka after he allegedly stabbed his girlfriend in the nose and broke her left arm.

The police boss, however, disputed the deceased’s age, saying that he was 18 years old and not a minor.

“On Sunday evening, the boy went to clean the bathroom because it was his duty. But he hanged himself from the iron bars on the ventilation window using the T-shirt that he was wearing,” claimed Yator.

Other inmates went to check on Baraka after he took too long in the bathroom, only to find his body dangling from the iron bars.

“He had used a bucket to stand and tied the t-shirt to one of the ventilation metals and rolled it like a rope before hanging himself,” claimed Yator.

The police boss said they interrogated the deceased’s grandfather, who confirmed that Baraka and his girlfriend used to fight often.

“On Good Friday, the deceased went to see the girl and stabbed her in the nose using a knife and broke her left arm, prompting his arrest by the police from Bamba police station,” said the police boss adding that he was to be arraigned in court on Tuesday.

Further, Yator alleged that the deceased had told other inmates that he wanted to escape because he knew the charges would land him in jail, and when the mission failed, he decided to end his life.

The police boss said that Baraka was charged with defilement last year before Kilifi Law Courts.

“Last year, authorities charged him with defiling his girlfriend, who is a minor. The court subsequently transferred the case to the children’s office because they were both underage and ineligible for a defilement charge,” Yator said.

The police boss claimed that Baraka had attempted suicide twice while at home.

"So it seems like he has been suicidal for a while; maybe he had mental issues,” he said.

The police removed the body to Kilifi Referral Hospital mortuary for an autopsy. 

However, the family of Baraka disputed the police report, saying that he was 15 years old and not 18, as alleged by the Ganze sub-county police commander.

Gladicy Riziki, grandmother of the deceased, said he was born in 2009, and was to turn 16 years in July.

"He is 15 years old, and even when you look at his birth certificate, he was born on 21st July 2009, and he was to turn 16 this July,’’ said Riziki.

Riziki also denied claims that Baraka stabbed his girlfriend. 

"The parents of his girlfriend filed a complaint after they disapproved of the relationship and reported the boy to the area Officer Commanding Station (OCS) at Bamba police station, which led to his arrest," she said.

Riziki claimed that the police beat Baraka during arrest.

"We want an autopsy to be conducted so we can know how he died. We want to know if indeed he took his own life or if it was assisted death,” she said.

Riziki said the deceased was an only child of his parents.

"He was a bright student. He joined Godoma Secondary School after scoring 280 marks at Bamba Primary School in 2023," she said.

This comes amid suicide cases that have been reported at the police station.

In 2020, a 17-year-old girl died in unclear circumstances in a police cell. Margaret Masha was 26 weeks pregnant.

Chief government pathologist Johansen Oduor, who conducted the postmortem at the Kilifi Referral Hospital, said the body had cyanosis, which was an indication that she lacked oxygen.

Masha was taken to the police by his mother to seek advice regarding joining Form One while she was seven months pregnant.