Efforts are still underway to trace and arrest more suspects in a gang rape ordeal against a Mombasa-based blogger, detectives investigating the incident have told the court.
Police corporal Irene Karuga from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in her sworn affidavit before Shanzu Resident Magistrate Robert Mbogo said the remaining suspects who include senior county officials, will be tracked down to record their statements on the ordeal.
Mombasa blogger’s ordeal
Karuga, who is the investigating officer, told the magistrate that she was investigating criminal cases of abduction contrary to Section 259 of the Penal Code, gang rape contrary to Section 10 of the Sexual Offences Act and conspiracy to commit a felony contrary to Section 393 of the Penal Code.
“The matter was reported by Bruce John Khajira, an online blogger who deals mostly in criticizing Mombasa County politics. He claims that he was picked by people known to him over a post he had made and he ended up being sodomized and later dumped in areas of Mwakirunge while fighting for his life,” Karuga stated.
Intelligence report
She further pointed out that detectives investigating the matter have intelligence reports that senior county officials were assisting some of the suspects to go into hiding.
“We have managed to establish that there has been communication which has been going on following the first arrest, where it is reported that there were more than fifteen suspects involved, hence releasing them will interfere with the the ongoing investigations,” she informed the court.
Karuga also informed the court that the suspects should not be released on bond since they would interfere with ongoing investigations.
“The incident is of public interest and releasing the respondents will amount to endangering their lives,” she told the court.
The court further heard that police required more time to conduct DNA analysis of the suspects to compare with the victim’s swaps hence releasing the respondents will hinder the process.
Flight risk
She further narrated to the court that, arresting the four suspects who appeared before the court on Monday, September 23, 2024, namely Abdul Hassan, Haji Babu Ndau, Esther Muthoni alias Totoos, and Violet Adera alias Vyaoo was not easy since there was a lot of interference from a section of county government officials.
The court heard that the second suspect Haji Babu Ndau was arrested while leaving Mombasa and detectives intercepted him within Machakos Junction along the Mombasa-Nairobi highway.
“During the time of his arrest, he had already fled Mombasa and was headed to an unknown destination after realising his associate had been arrested. They are a flight risk if released on bond,” the court heard.
The court was further informed that two of the suspects were arrested within Mombasa by a multi-agency team of detectives drawn from Nairobi and Mombasa.
