Caroline Mwatha's family fear 'abortion' cover-up

Caroline Mwatha’s mother Anna Kathathi mourns at the City Mortuary on February 12, 2019 after viewing the body of her daughter. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Police said the activist based in Dandora had been found at City Mortuary, and that investigations had shown "the intended abortion of a five-month old pregnancy".
  • But many Kenyans are sceptical over the cause of her death, due to a long history of state violence, police brutality and extrajudicial killings which go unpunished.

The family of a Kenyan activist who went missing for a week before turning up dead, have questioned police claims she died of a botched abortion, and demanded a post-mortem .

Caroline Mwatha went missing last Wednesday, prompting Amnesty International to raise the alarm over her disappearance, given her sensitive work lobbying against extra-judicial killings by police.

'BOTCHED ABORTION'

Police announced on Tuesday she had been found at City Mortuary, and that investigations had shown "the intended abortion of a five-month old pregnancy".

A police statement from Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti said Mwatha had been communicating with a boyfriend who sent her Sh6,000 to procure the abortion, and had been admitted to the mortuary under a fake name last Thursday.

He said six people, including the owner of the clinic, a doctor and the alleged boyfriend, have been arrested.

However many Kenyans are sceptical over the cause of her death, due to a long history of state violence, police brutality and extrajudicial killings which go unpunished.

"We have never seen Caro with a pregnancy, she was not pregnant, how can she have been aborting?" her father Stanslus Mbai told journalists at the mortuary.

"It is puzzle to us. Very strange because I have looked at the body. She has a deep cut on the thigh and stomach, is that abortion?"

He also questioned why her phone had kept ringing during the time she was missing, and said he had received a missed call from her number during the time she was reportedly already dead.

"A lot is not adding up, this is a cover up," he said.

'NOTHING BUT TRUTH'

"We want the truth and nothing but the truth in this. We must have an independent post-mortem to know the truth."

Authorities have said they are waiting for the government pathologist to arrive from Naivasha, some 80 kilometres from the capital, to carry out the post-mortem.

Mwatha's husband Joshua Ochieng, who has been living in Dubai, was also suspicious: "The body has a very big cut on the thigh, how can that be an abortion?"

Khalid Hussein, a director at human rights organisation Haki Africa, also demanded a swift post-mortem.

"What is this they are trying to hide? The truth must be known because we are not buying this theory."