Richard Wasike and his wife Joyce display a photo of their son Emmanuel Wasike at their Likoni home. The boy’s body was found in a car after he disappeared for hours. [Weldon Kipkemoi, Standard]
Close to two years after the death of a six-year-old boy inside a pastor's car in Mombasa, police are yet to unravel the mystery and the victim's parents are blaming Likoni detectives for the delay.
Richard Wasike and his wife Joyce remain distraught and inconsolable since the discovery of Emmanuel's body in the church's parking lot on February 25 last year.
The victim had attended Mass in Ushindi Baptist church on the morning of February 25, 2018, and had disappeared for more than 12 hours before he was found dead in the car the next morning.
According to Likoni Directorate of Criminal Investigations officer Charles Onyango, a postmortem examination established that Emmanuel suffocated.
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Richard and his wife say police have kept them in the dark and have never supplied them with the postmortem examination findings or updated them on the status of the investigation said to have been ongoing since last year.
At the same time, CCTV cameras stationed in the parking that would have shed light on how the boy entered the car or whether he was forced in, have not yielded much.
"We witnessed the postmortem examination at the Coast General Hospital and the police later told us the child suffocated. We were not given a copy of the report," said Mr Wasike.
He said he visited Likoni endless times to collect the report, all in vain.
Yesterday, Mr Onyango reiterated the suffocation theory, but admitted that the aggrieved family was never given the postmortem examination report, giving two reasons for this.
"This matter happened before I came and it was before the former DCIO, and so I got it half-way," said Onyango.
"I only knew this mzee the other day when he came to my office. I had never seen him before.”
The DCIO divulged no information on the probe on the CCTV camera.
“The matter is under investigation by two investigating officers and they are yet to brief me,” Onyango said.
Earlier, the DCIO had claimed the investigation file had been forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for further direction.
Ushindi Baptist Bishop Joseph Maisha told The Standard police reviewed recordings of the CCTV cameras, from the day the boy's body was found.
“They found that the CCTV was not functional. They were depending on the cameras to establish what happened, but the expert who installed the machines informed them the information had so far been overwritten,” Maisha said, adding he believed the death was accidental.
“We do not believe anyone in this church can kill a child,” he said.
Never rest
Wasike and his wife have since quit worshiping at the church. Yesterday, the boy's mother said she would not rest until the truth comes out.
“All I wish to know is how my child entered the car. If he got there by himself, I will be at peace. I would also like to know whether he was forced into the car,” says Joyce.
The family suffered a second tragedy last April when their 16-year-old son vanished from their Likoni home and has not been seen since. Before vanishing, the boy was said to be having a secret love affair with a 40-year-old woman, who police arrested, interrogated but freed without charge.
