Mother wants her daughter’s body exhumed

Umazi Zani. PHOTO | KEVIN ODIT |

What you need to know:

  • She also wants the officers who killed the Standard Four pupil at Mavurivurini Primary School brought to book.
  • Reports have it that police officers sprayed the house with bullets on suspicion that criminals they were hunting down were hiding there.

The mother of a 14-year-old girl allegedly shot dead when police opened fire on a house on Saturday morning as she slept on wants the body exhumed.

Ms Umazi Zani claims police buried the body of her daughter, Kwekwe Mwandaza, without her consent.

She also wants the officers who killed the Standard Four pupil at Mavurivurini Primary School brought to book.

Reports have it that police officers sprayed the house with bullets on suspicion that criminals they were hunting down were hiding there.

Kwekwe was a sleep in her uncle’s house in Maweu Village, Kwale County together with her niece and nephew when police struck at 2am. They first lobbed tear gas canisters into the house before they started shooting.

Kwekwe’s mother said she was shocked to find her body had been hurriedly buried on Saturday evening.

“We had planed to have an autopsy on the body. However, police officers took the body from the mortuary without my knowledge and buried it” Ms Zani claimed.

BLAMED CHIEF

Ms Zani blamed an area chief, Samson Chale, who she said was a relative to her former husband, for authorising release of the body from the Kinango District Hospital mortuary and the burial.

Sources said police were looking for Ms Zani’s estranged husband said to be on the run.

However, Mr Chale claimed that in fact, Ms Zani and her husband Mwandaza attended the burial.

“I have not received any complaints about the burial from other family members,” Mr Chale said.

Kwekwe’s uncle Hussein Zani said eight armed police officers raided his home and knocked down the door before opening fire.

“At the time, the deceased was sleeping. She was the one who got the full force of the gunfire,” Hussein said. He said the girl was shot on the head and stomach.

“Police later took away the body and did not allow any family member to accompany them,” Hussein added.

There were other reports that police shot dead the girl in self defence after she allegedly attacked them with a panga.

Muslims for Human Rights chairman Khelef Khalifa and Mwavumbo Ward representative Anthony Lukuni have called on the Independent Police Oversight Authority and Director of Public Prosecutions to investigate the matter.

“Police should tell us why they killed the girl because I’m sure could never have been a threat to armed officers,” Lukuni said.