Tension remains high in Likii slum, Nanyuki, after residents took to the streets demanding justice for Julia Njoki, a 24-year-old woman who died after allegedly being tortured while in police custody.
The protests, which broke out on Monday, saw angry demonstrators barricade the main road into Nanyuki town with burning tyres and stones. Their efforts to march into the town centre were thwarted by police officers who set up roadblocks to prevent access.
The protesters are calling for the immediate arrest of the officer who allegedly assaulted Njoki during her detention, insisting that justice must be served.
Njoki was reportedly arrested on the evening of July 7 during the Sabasaba protests while heading home. According to her family, she was rounded up alongside other demonstrators and taken to Nanyuki Police Station where she spent the night.
She was later arraigned at the Nanyuki Law Courts on charges of malicious damage and held at the Nanyuki Women’s Prison after failing to raise a bond of Ksh.50,000.
According to the Kenya Prisons Service (KPS), Njoki was admitted to the prison facility on July 8 at around 5:20 p.m. with four other women. By 7:00 p.m., she had begun complaining of dizziness, headache, and stomach pains.
She was subsequently taken to the Nanyuki Teaching and Referral Hospital, but her condition deteriorated and she was referred to Cottage Hospital for a CT scan. Her father told The Standard that she was admitted to the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at 11:00 p.m. and underwent surgery the following morning. She died on July 12.
A preliminary medical report obtained by the family indicates that Njoki suffered blunt force trauma to the head, consistent with a severe beating.
The family has expressed deep concern over the circumstances surrounding her arrest, detention, and eventual death, accusing authorities of a cover-up. A postmortem examination is scheduled for Tuesday next week to determine the exact cause of death.
Njoki’s death has added to growing public outrage over allegations of police brutality, coming just weeks after the death of teacher Albert Ojwang’, who reportedly died after being tortured in police custody.
Human rights organisations have condemned the incident and are calling for an independent investigation into the matter.
As the protests continue, Nanyuki residents are demanding not only accountability for Njoki’s death but also broader police reforms to end what they describe as a rising pattern of extrajudicial violence.
