Minor fights for life after alleged torture in police cell

A 17-year-old student is fighting for his life at the Narok County Referral Hospital after allegedly being brutally assaulted while in police custody. [George Sayagie, Standard]

A 17-year-old student from Naroosura Secondary School, Felix Senet Takona, is fighting for his life at the Narok County Referral Hospital after allegedly being brutally assaulted while in police custody  at Naroosura Police Station in Narok South Sub-County.

Felix, a Form Two student, was arrested on October 10, 2025, at around 2:00 pm at Naroosura shopping centre on suspicion of stealing tractor parts. However, when he was presented before court on October 13, the charge was changed to breaking into a building and committing a felony.

Speaking from his hospital bed in extreme pain, Felix claimed that police officers identified as Silus Kemboi and Mr Ngeno tortured him with metal chains and poured acid on his legs, forcing him to confess to a crime he insists he did not commit. He also alleged that his family was denied access to him throughout his detention.

“I was beaten every night. They told me to accept the charges or they would kill me,” the minor said from his bed, where he is chained and under police guard.

Doctors at the Narok County Referral Hospital have described his condition as critical, revealing that severe infections on both legs may force an amputation to save his life. He was rushed into theatre on Thursday morning for emergency surgery as the wounds had begun “peeling off due to severe infection and possible chemical burns.”

His mother, Grace Takona, said she was devastated by the state of her son when she first saw him in hospital.

“He can’t walk. They have put a catheter in him because he cannot go to the washroom on his own,” she said. “I was not allowed to see him while he was in the cells. I only learned from a neighbour that my son had been admitted here,” she told The Standard on Wednesday.

Despite his critical condition, Felix was charged in a Narok court on Tuesday with breaking into a shop at Naroosura trading centre on August 8, 2025, and allegedly stealing 10 litres of cooking oil worth Sh2,500 and cash amounting to Sh34,000. He was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to the offences — a plea he says he made under coercion.

However, prison authorities declined to admit him due to his injuries and referred him back to the hospital for urgent medical attention.

Police have claimed that Felix was injured in a mob justice attack before being rescued and taken into custody — an account his family and the victim strongly dispute.

Human rights groups and child protection advocates have called for an urgent, independent investigation into the incident, citing violations of the Constitution, the Children’s Act, and Kenya’s obligations under international human rights law prohibiting torture and cruel or degrading treatment.