Student died of blunt force trauma to the head during demonstrations- autopsy

A postmortem conducted on a student who died in Naivasha last week during a demonstration indicates that he was hit by a blunt object on the head.

According to an autopsy conducted by government pathologist Dr Titus Ngulungu, 20-year-old Ben Kamiti died from blunt trauma.

Kamiti, who was a student at Upperhill College of Professional Studies, was allegedly hit by a teargas canister during a demonstration in the town.

This is against a police report which indicated that the deceased fell down and was hit by a sharp object that left him with an injury on the head.

The postmortem that was conducted at Naivasha sub-county hospital mortuary was also witnessed by the family pathologist Dr PM Ndegwa.

“The cause of death was brunt trauma to the head and not a sharp object as was alleged in the initial report,” said the report.  

During the incident, anti-riot police were called in to stop the demonstration and in the ensuing melee, Kamiti was hit on the head by a teargas canister and seriously injured.

According to a youth leader Simon Wakaba, the student was first rushed to Naivasha sub-county hospital before he was transferred to the private facility for specialized treatment.

He added that the family had launched a complaint with the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) to investigate the case and take the necessary action.

“We were waiting for a postmortem report to establish what caused the death of Kamiti and we are now calling on IPOA to fully investigate this case as the cause of death is now known,” he said.

Meanwhile, the bodies of two men who committed suicide in lodgings in Mai Mahiu, Naivasha in two different incidents are yet to be identified.

The two committed suicide in a span of 12 hours with one drinking a pesticide and the other using a rope to take his life, leaving tongues wagging in the busy trading center.

According to Naivasha DCIO Isaac Kiama the two did not have any identification documents when they checked into the lodgings.

“We are not ruling out any foul play in these two incidents and we have opened inquest files as part of our investigations,” he said.