This archive report was first published on 18 July 2021.
On July 11, Robert Mureithi, a 30-year-old charcoal dealer, died in a cell at Pangani Police Station after failing to raise a Sh200 fine.
According to his family, Mureithi had appeared before Makadara court on July 9 for breaking curfew rules but was locked up at the station for the weekend after failing to pay the fine.
On July 16, family members went to witness the postmortem of Mureithi at City Mortuary, where pathologist Dr. Peter Ndegwa conducted the exercise.
Dr. Ndegwa explained that Mureithi's body showed signs of being submerged in water, but his lungs were dry, ruling out drowning as a cause of death.
He also stated that Mureithi had a head injury on the right side of his head, but there was no internal bleeding observed, making it unlikely to be the cause of death.
Dr. Ndegwa noted that the real cause of Mureithi's death was yet to be established and that experts would extract some samples for further analysis.
Mureithi's father, Joseph Muriuki Kanye, expressed his desire for justice, stating that his son's death was not a natural occurrence and that he wants to know the truth.
Human rights activists Zaina Kombo and Ruth Kinuthia from Haki Africa accompanied the family during the postmortem and raised concerns about how Mureithi was soaked in water while in custody.
