This archive report was first published on 19 September 2019.
On Tuesday, September 17, 2019, a bizarre scene unfolded in Makadara court as two suspects appeared before senior principal magistrate Angelo Kithinji without their clothes on.
The incident sparked heated exchanges as the suspects accused the Kamukunji OCS of forcing them to strip and then taking away their clothes.
Peter Gatimo, who appeared in his boxer shorts, claimed he was arrested on Friday and ordered to strip naked by the Officer In Charge of Station. He alleged that the OCS took his clothes and hid them.
Gatimo was charged with robbery with violence after being found armed with a knife that he allegedly used to rob Kitheka Kivindu of a wallet, Sh4, 500 and a Sh9,500 mobile phone on September 12 at OTC Stage, along Race Course Road in Nairobi.
He also faced charges of being in possession of stolen items.
‘I was arrested on Friday and asked to strip naked. The OCS took my clothes and hid them,’ Gatimo told the court.
He added that he was given oversized clothes to wear on Tuesday but refused to put them on.
A second suspect, Jimmy Ndirangu, appeared in a vest and boxers, claiming police provided him with dirty, stinking clothes to wear but he declined.
‘I don’t know where those clothes have been. They were filthy clothes that were stinking and I was asked to put them on. I declined,’ Ndirangu said.
Ndirangu was charged with intent to commit a felony, found in possession of an imitation firearm, and trafficking Sh600 bhang. He was arrested on September 15 at Kiruga Garage near Pumwani.
Magistrate Angelo Kithinji ordered the investigating officer to ask the OCS to respond to the allegations of stripping made by the suspects.
