Thursday, January 12, 2012

Families of murdered captives seek justice


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Families of murdered captives seek justice
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 11 – Families of two men who were abducted and later killed by unknown gunmen are still trying to come to terms with the sad news of the deaths, after identifying the bodies at the city mortuary on Wednesday.
Both families want justice to prevail following the incident, which raises fears of a return to the kidnapping trend experienced in the country three years ago.
Beatrice Khaseke, the wife of one of the slain men Collins Limiri Muriungi, told Capital News she had been to the morgue where she positively identified her husband’s body.
She was at the family’s home in Nakuru on Tuesday when she was informed that the bodies had been discovered after he went missing on December 30.
“I am from the mortuary, I have seen the body and I am still shocked. I can’t believe they just shot my husband dead. I would want to know why this happened because it is just not right at all,” Khaseke said, intermittently breaking into tears.
She was accompanied to the mortuary by her father-in-law and other family members.
“People have started meeting for funeral arrangements. We want to know what happened and why,” she said. “We want justice.”
Family members of the other slain man identified as Stephen Kinyua were also at the mortuary on Wednesday.
Bodies of the two men were discovered at the city mortuary on Tuesday morning, a day after the families appealed to the kidnappers who abducted them to make contact with them to end their 10-day agony.
The men were taken away from Athi River on December 30 last year where Kinyua had gone to see a chemist Muriungi was selling because he was a prospective buyer, according to an attendant at the chemist.
Records at the city mortuary indicate the bodies were taken there last week by police officers from Mwiki police station.
Reports indicate they were discovered near Nairobi River, after being dumped there by unknown persons.
The bodies had gun shots wounds which appear to have been discharged at close range. They were booked at the city mortuary as unidentified male adults, according to relatives.
Police Spokesman Eric Kiraithe has vowed that detectives will ensure justice prevails in the matter.
“We regret the deaths but I am assuring the family of justice. Our officers are investigating the deaths and searching for the killers,” he told Capital News in his office.
Muriungi was a clinical officer in charge of TB Coordination in Kerugoya while the other victim was said to be a businessman.
“An attendant at the chemist told us that the men who had taken them away had identified themselves as police officers but when we went to the police station, they denied holding them. That is when we thought that they must have been kidnapped,” Khaseke said adding.
On Wednesday police said they were still trying to trace the user of a mobile phone number used to demand a Sh5 million ransom from one of the families.
“We wanted to sell the chemist and my husband had brought this other man to come and see it because he had expressed interest; we are told that is when unidentified people came with guns and bundled them into a car claiming they were police officers,” Khaseke told Capital News in an earlier interview.
Cases of kidnapping were common in the country four years ago, prompting Police Headquarters to form a special police squad to deal with the matter.
Several suspected kidnappers were shot dead at the time and others prosecuted in court.

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