Former officer’s burial plans scuttled by dowry row

A court has heard that attempts to bury a former police officer failed after her siblings disagreed with her husband over unpaid dowry.

Kakamega Senior Principal Magistrate Thomas Muraguri had directed the parties to solve the matter out of court through mediation. 

But when the parties appeared yesterday to give a progress update, the widower, Evans Amadala, told the court that the respondents had become hostile and uncooperative.

“This matter came before you and you directed that arbitrators be appointed to address the major issues. However, the meeting was acrimonious and the officer's family walked out, leaving us with no option but to follow the court process,” said lawyer Thomas Maosa.

Police Constable Jane Robi died in June during a visit to her sister in Nakuru. Her husband and daughter, Sharon Boke, sued the in-laws for concealing information that the officer had died.

In court documents, Mr Amadala and Ms Boke told the court that Ms Robi had died in the custody of her siblings and they had wanted to bury her without their knowledge and involvement.

“The defendants have frustrated efforts by the Kenya Police and the plaintiffs to unravel the circumstances relating to the disappearance of the officer or have a postmortem conducted to establish the cause of death,” said Amadala.

He said it was his responsibility to bury Robi at their matrimonial land in Kitale. He told the court that news of his wife's death had come as a surprise because she was not sick.

In a replying affidavit, Susan Tamasia, a sister of Robi, said the officer had complained of chest pains and had a bad cough before she died. She added that the family was reluctant to release Robi's body to Amadala because no bride price had been paid.

“In accordance with Kuria customary law, Robi was not married to Amadala as there was no union witnessed by elders from both families at any given time. The plaintiff has no right to claim the body of the deceased as he is neither kin nor husband in any law."

 Mr Muraguri ordered the matter to go to full hearing on December 11.