The nation’s police watchdog said that there were obvious signs of torture on the hideously disfigured remains.
Kenya’s police watchdog says it is looking into possible police participation in the horrific finding of dismembered bodies disposed of in a Nairobi trash tip.
Following major anti-government rallies, the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA) is investigating allegations of kidnappings and wrongful arrests of protesters who vanished.
Rights organizations have accused Kenyan security personnel of employing excessive force during the rallies that resulted in the deaths of several individuals last month, drawing scrutiny to the agency.
Kenya’s presidency said on Friday that national police chief Japhet Koome, who had been the focus of much public outrage over the protest killings, had resigned after less than two years in the position.
Nine bodies were found.
The horrifically disfigured bodies of six women were discovered that same day in a trash site in the Nairobi slum of Mukuru, according to authorities.
Later on Friday, the IPOA said in a statement that at least nine people’s remains had been found, two of whom were men and seven of whom were women.
Less than 100 yards separated the dumpsite from a police station. “The bodies, wrapped in bags and secured by nylon ropes, had visible marks of torture and mutilation,” the statement stated.
“As the police investigations unfold, IPOA is keenly independently undertaking preliminary inquiries to establish whether there was any police involvement in the deaths, or failure to act to prevent them,” the organization stated.
bags made of plastic
Images on local news showed people in an abandoned quarry using ropes to drag plastic sacks carrying the human remains out of water covered with trash.
Without providing any details, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations stated that initial findings indicated all of the victims had been slain similarly.
It further stated that the bodies were brought to the city morgue to await postmortem analyses.
The remains’ proximity to a police station was another point of worry raised by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, which expressed its “deep concern” about the findings that “point to a grave violation of human rights.”
