Former Officer Commanding Station (OCS) for Central police Station in Kisumu, on Friday had a difficult timetrying to explain why he did not record a report on the assault of baby Samantha Pendo, last year.
Appearing before Kisumu Senior Resident Magistrate Beryl Omollo, Mr. John Thiringi, the then Kisumu Central OCS, was accused of attempting to conceal the assault on the six-month-old baby.
Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) lawyer Charles Onyango told the court that it was wrong for Mr. Thiringi to keep quiet after he confirmed that the child was admitted at the Aga Khan Hospital in Kisumu on August 12, 2017.
The child was admitted at the hospital after allegedly being clobbered by police officers.
The officers allegedly broke into her parents’ house in Nyalenda estate to quell riots that broke out in Kisumu after President Uhuru Kenyatta was declared winner of the August 8th presidential election.
Now based at Moi’s Bridge Police Station in Gilgil, Mr. Thiringi maintained that the parents or relatives of the child were the ones supposed to make a report at the police station.
“This was a serious matter and I therefore left a message to the parents or relatives of the deceased to report the incident to the police so that action could be taken,” he told the court.
Baby Samantha Pendo died on August 15, 2018 at the Agha Khan Hospital. Hearing of the inquest to establish the cause of her death continues on Monday.