Family seeks justice for student who fell off a moving bus to her death

Doreen Kinya Mwiti who died after she fell off a Githurai bus just outside Safari Park Hotel along Thika Road on June 13, 2018 while returning home from school. There are conflicting reports on how she fell off the moving bus. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • A dispute arose after the woman protested for being driven past the stage where she was supposed to alight.
  • Ms Kinya is said to have hit the tarmac headfirst, sustaining internal injuries.
  • The student died upon arrival at the Ruaraka Uhai Neema Hospital.

Doreen Kinya Mwiti was full of cheer when she left home for school on Wednesday morning.

Being her second day at the Nairobi Institute of Business Studies (NIBS), she was enthusiastic about her new life in college.

Kinya, 21, was living with her cousin Catherine Kanyua at Lucky Summer in Ruaraka and had joined NIBS the previous day to start her course in software development.

Kinya would never return home as she died after a tout allegedly pushed her off a speeding Githurai bus just outside Safari Park Hotel along Thika Road Wednesday evening while returning home from school.

The Zam Zam bus that plies the Githurai-Nairobi route seen here at Kasarani Police Station on June 15, 2018. It is alleged that Doreen Kinya, 21, was pushed by touts out the speeding bus along Thika Road on June 13, 2018. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

FELL OFF BUS

Officers at Kasarani Police Station are now investigating the circumstances under which the student fell off the Zam Zam bus, registration number KCC 021A, that plies the Nairobi-Githurai route.

The victim’s father John Mwiti told the Nation that his daughter had come to Nairobi from their home in Mitunguru in Imenti South in May in preparation for her college studies.

“I was happy when her elder sister who lives abroad paid her college fees. It’s so painful to lose my daughter who was determined to become an IT specialist after her studies,” a teary Mr Mwiti said.

Passengers who were in the bus at the time say that a dispute arose after the woman protested for being driven past the stage where she was supposed to alight. It is then that the tout is said to have pushed her off the speeding bus.

Ms Kinya is said to have hit the tarmac headfirst, sustaining internal injuries.

DIFFERENT ACCOUNT

Another different account of the incident says that the driver of the bus only slowed down but did not stop even after the conductor instructed him to do so. The tout then pushed her out as the bus sped off.

Peter Kamau Njoroge who arrived at the scene moments later pulled over and put the unconscious woman into his car and drove to the nearby Ruaraka Uhai Neema Hospital.

The student died upon arrival at the hospital.

The hospital refused to take the body and instead asked the Good Samaritans to report the matter to Kasarani Police Station, which they did.

At the station two kilometres away, Kamau and his colleagues say they were manhandled by officers who also refused to record any statement.

“They simply took the body from our vehicle and ordered us to leave,” he said.

THREATS

That evening, Kamau started receiving threats from unknown people through text messages.

“I meant well by [trying to save] a fellow human being who was in agony. I did not want to be in trouble with anyone,” Kamau narrated to the Nation, adding that he now fears for his life.

The bus was intercepted by boda boda riders near Homeland Inn after passengers protested as the driver attempted to flee.

By this time, the tout had already fled.

Sources who did not wish to be named said that the buses are owned by powerful people in the city.

And in what appears to be an attempt at cover-up, the police have issued conflicting accounts of the incident.

Doreen’s father John Mwiti (left) at Kasarani Police Station on June 15, 2018. With him is Catherine Kinyua, Doreen’s cousin. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

CONFLICTING REPORTS

An earlier report suggested that the incident occurred when Kinya attempted to cross the highway at an undesignated spot, a narrative that has since changed.

“We understand that the student attempted to alight from a moving bus hence the impact with the road,” Kasarani OCPD Robinson Mboloi said, an account that her father denies.

“I am shocked that the police believe that my daughter threw herself off a moving bus,” said Mr Mwiti.

OCPD Mboloi said that the bus driver and the conductor are currently in police custody pending investigations.

The bus is also being held at the Kasarani Police Station.

Doreen’s father John Mwiti at Kasarani Police Station on June 15, 2018. Mr Mwiti now wants the government to pursue the matter of his daughter's death to a conclusive end and justice served for his daughter.

WITNESS STATEMENTS

Kamau and other witnesses were only allowed to record statements Saturday the afternoon, more than 42 hours after the incident.

While the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) has in the past suspended matatus for indiscipline among their crew, buses owned by the sacco are still on road.

A post-mortem on Kinya’s body will be conducted on Monday to determine the cause of death.

Mr Mwiti now wants the government to pursue the matter to a conclusive end and justice served for his daughter.

“We had so much hope in Kinya. The culprits must be apprehended and prosecuted,” he said.