The rural home of Mukurwe-ini in Nyeri County was the scene of a deeply emotional funeral on Friday, September 26, 2025, as Simon Warui, a man who lost his life under mysterious circumstances inside Mombasa’s Central Police Station, was laid to rest.
The ceremony, marked by overwhelming grief, saw Warui’s widow refuse to part with his coffin, requiring friends and relatives to gently pull her away.
According to the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), Warui had been reported missing in Nairobi before his family discovered he was detained in Mombasa.
Police officers at the station claimed they heard a loud bang while Warui was in the toilet, finding him with blood oozing from his nose.
He was rushed to a local hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival. A post-mortem examination suggested he may have fallen from a height, though the exact circumstances remain under investigation by IPOA, which is currently interviewing witnesses and reviewing police procedures.
Simon Warui, who lost his life inside Central Police Station, Mombasa, was buried today at his rural home in Mukurwe Ini, Nyeri county.
The funeral was overwhelmingly emotional. At one point, his wife refused to let go of his coffin and had to be pulled away from it by friends… pic.twitter.com/slwnYudEk4 — husseinkhalid (@husskhalid) September 26, 2025
The funeral, held at Warui’s ancestral home, drew a large crowd of mourners who gathered under a tent adorned with flowers to pay their respects.
A photo of Warui, dressed in a striped shirt and carrying a bag, stood beside the polished wooden coffin, bearing a plaque with his name and dates.
The emotional peak came when his wife clung to the coffin, her cries echoing the community’s frustration over the lack of transparency surrounding his death.
Relatives and friends intervened, carefully separating her as the burial proceeded, a scene that has since fueled the #Justice4SimonWarui hashtag on X.
This incident adds to a troubling pattern of police cell deaths in Kenya.
