Family demands answers after kin dies following arrest by police

Family members , Human Rights Activists and friends of the late Eric Otieno 19 year old, who was torture at Muthaiga police station, died on the way to hospital. They are waiting for postmortem at Margaret Kenyatta Hospital Kariobangi. [ Jenipher Wachie, Standard]

Kenyans are once again mourning the death of another young man, Eric Otieno, beaten by police and left for dead.

Otieno, a boda boda rider, was allegedly arrested by police and booked on Saturday at Muthaiga station.

Family says Otieno, aged 19 and a resident of nearby Mathare area, was arrested on Saturday, August 1, 2026, in the afternoon hours along Thika Road by police from Muthaiga Police Station, where he was detained.

The family told The Standard that they were asked to pick their son on Sunday, when they realised that he was too weak to live.

He, however, died on Monday morning at Mama Margaret Uhuru Hospital, where he was rushed for treatment, his death reigniting the safety of suspects in police cells in Nairobi.

They claimed that at the station, Otieno was subjected to beatings that left him unable to stand up by the time they visited him on the fateful evening and the following day, as he complained of severe pains on his abdomen.

On Tuesday, the mystery surrounding Otieno’s death deepened as a postmortem revealed that he sustained several internal injuries, among them ruptured organs resulting in excessive bleeding, which was linked to a brutal beating at the police station.

A postmortem conducted at Mama Margaret Uhuru Hospital yesterday by government Pathologist Bernard Midia showed that Otieno died of a massive internal hemorrhage in the abdomen due to injury to organs.

"This was due to trauma to the abdomen; the spleen was ruptured, and also part of the bowel was injured, causing internal bleeding," Midia said.

About two litres of blood were found to have leaked into his abdomen.

The family says Otieno was arrested not from a boda-boda stage around KCA University where he usually operates from.

"Around that area, police officers usually wait for riders making wrong turns; those who have been arrested are usually subjected to beatings, and that is where he was arrested," his brother Emmanuel Otieno said.

At the same spot, it is alleged that some officers usually collect bribes from riders found making wrong turns, and it is suspected that the deceased did not oblige.

The brother added, "He was escorted and taken to the station. That evening, he called us, begging us to raise Sh10, 000 because he was in pain after being assaulted in the station.

His younger brother Arnold Otieno said when he visited Otieno at the station late in the evening, police officers were hesitant to allow him to see the brother but managed to convince one of the officers, who allowed him.

"That time, he was unable to stand up; he crawled to the wall, then we spoke briefly. He was saying the officers had assaulted him using clubs and was in pain," Otieno recalled.

"While I was still at the station, I heard one of the female officers asking a colleague to get a car to take my brother to hospital, claiming that he was unwell. We suspect that they wanted to rush him to hospital as part of a cover-up."

It was not until Sunday evening that they went back to the station to pay Sh10,000 cash bail for the release of their brother, hoping to rush him for treatment.

"At the station, the officers were telling us to pay and leave in a hurry. At that time, Otieno was vomiting blood that we were told to clean and take him away; at that moment, he was unable to stand," his sister Immaculate Atieno said.

"It was around 11 pm when we left the station headed to Mama Margaret Uhuru Hospital, where Otieno was pronounced dead upon arrival."

The family says up to now, no one has told them why their brother was arrested or who assaulted in and of he committed any offence.

"We have not been told what happened or why he was arrested; we are appealing to the National Police Service and even the Interior Cabinet Secretary to intervene and ask for an inquiry into the matter,"

"Why didn't they take him to court? The station also received cash bail but we were not given any receipts or OB number that they used to book him; it is strange that a young person can die mysteriously like that,"

However, officers at Muthaiga police station claim Otieno was booked for preparation to commit a felony.

"What is being said is the contrary; people came to demonstrate outside the station, but they don't know what happened," an officer attached to the station said on Tuesday.

But the family claims Ochieng was taken to some hospitals without their consent in an attempt when his condition got worse, but he was not admitted.

Among the facilities mentioned were Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital, where an attempt to admit Otieno backfired.

On Monday, his family, friends and boda-boda riders held a protest outside Muthaiga police station seeking answers, but they were not addressed.

The family lawyer, Alvin Attalo, said it is suspected that Otieno was arrested by five police officers and they will be seeking to review the CCTV footage outside the station to observe how Otieno arrived and how he was released.