A boy in Homa Bay County has allegedly gone dumb after he was reportedly beaten by police officers in Ndhiwa sub county.
Almada Onyango, 17, reportedly encountered the police on Thursday last week, as he attempted to intervene for a form one student who had been arrested.
The latter, a student at Rambusi Secondary School was riding a motorbike and was reportedly mistaken for a bodaboda operator by the officers from Kamata Administration Police (AP) Line.
According to his mother Lea Okongo, Almada who was on his way to register for Huduma Namba, was trying to explain to the police that the form one boy was innocent.
“My son did nothing wrong. He was only explaining to the officers that the boy they had arrested had been sent by his father to collect food from the shopping centre. The officers pounced on him, took him to the AP camp and assaulted him,” she was quoted by the Standard.
She added that it took the intervention of bodaboda operators to save the boy from the AP camp, and now says that he has not uttered a single word since the ordeal.
“The officers threatened to shoot me if I dared enter the room where my son was being held. They were still assaulting him. I screamed for help and bodaboda operators who heard my cry came and rescued my son from the officers,” she explained.
Area police boss Esther Seroney said that investigations are ongoing, with the Homa Bay County Referral Hospital Acting CEO saying that the damage can be traced back to the assault.
“The voice box was interfered with after he was strangled. We are doing our best to restore him,” said Dr Meshak Liru.