Inconsistencies in the death of woman at Ruaraka police cells

Piece by: Peninah Njoki
Lifestyle

The death of Sheinda Gatwiri is like an endless maze that is hard to complete. This was after she died mysteriously while in custody at Ruaraka police station.

The case which is being investigated by IPOA reads like a bad movie and below are some of the inconsistencies.

  1. Gatwiri, 28, was booked at Ruaraka police cells on December 26 "for burglary and stealing" but was found dead by the sentry two days later.

2. Government pathologist Peter Ndegwa found that Gatwiri had bruised neck ligature tissues and that "a cotton piece of cloth was tied around her neck with a sharp knot".

This information contradicts Murungi Gatwiri, who had earlier told the Star that her younger sister's body bore black spots at her left cheek suggesting that she could have been hit with a blunt object.

3. According to Murungi, Gatwiri's nose, also had what appeared to be minor scratch with a bloodstain. But the postmortem report makes no mention of it.

4. Sources at the station had told the Star the leadership's official explanation was that the woman took her life at around 2 am on December 28 using the lining of her petticoat.

Realistically speaking some of us who wore petticoats back in the day know that unless someone is choking you with it, it would be almost impossible to 'die' from a petticoat lining. It is too thin and fragile to hold any dangling body.

5. Despite being booked at Ruaraka on 26/12/2019 Gatwiri's family was never informed of her arrest and was only contacted when Gatwiri's husband 'pretended' to inquire about her whereabouts.

6. The results obtained by the Star concluded that woman died from "neck compression due to hanging".

That contradicts a source, who also witnessed the postmortem and said the woman's body had a piece of cloth tightly around her neck without any physical signs of struggle or defensive injury to suggest she was attacked.

Let's wait and see what results  IPOA will reveal.