Another Suspect Dies in Police Custody Amid Rising Concerns Over Safety in Cells
A suspect arrested for alleged livestock theft has died while in custody at Katito Police Station in Kisumu County.
According to police officers at the station, the man is said to have taken his own life using a vest to hang himself from the door of the cell where he was being held in solitary confinement.
He had been arrested on suspicion of stealing goats. Police said they were alerted to a commotion from the cell on the morning of Friday, June 13, at around 10:00 am. Upon checking, they reportedly found the suspect hanging.
The body was moved to the Nyando Sub-County Morgue pending further investigations.
This incident comes just a day after another suspect was found dead under similar circumstances at Ukwala Police Station in Siaya County.
In that case, police said a 26-year-old man facing defilement charges was found hanging in the cell’s toilet on June 12. The suspect had been arrested following a court-issued warrant. According to officers at the station, he allegedly used his shirt to hang himself from a metal water pipe.
The two incidents add to growing concern over deaths in police custody, following the recent case involving teacher and social media personality Albert Ojwang.
Police had initially claimed that Ojwang died by suicide at the Central Police Station in Nairobi, saying he had repeatedly hit his head against a wall. However, preliminary findings by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) and a government pathologist contradicted the police version.
The investigations revealed that Ojwang died from head injuries, neck compression, and multiple bruises, suggesting he was subjected to blunt force trauma and strangulation.
The increasing number of such deaths in custody is raising serious concerns about the safety of detainees in police cells—places that should guarantee protection but are now coming under scrutiny as potential death traps.
