At the junction of Kimathi Street and Kenyatta Avenue in Nairobi, two book vendors carry on with their business as usual. They have taken over a footpath, forcing pedestrians to use the service lane.
A spot near one of the vendors is strewn with the remains of French fries, a dish cover, an empty plastic jar of body cream, mango peels, a bottle top and a sachet of tablets.
These are the only objects that speak to the last days of 50-year-old Susan Wanjiku, a street mother.
In her last encounter on Tuesday with this writer, Susan lay on the paver bricks, the upper half of her body under the shade provided by a building under construction. The lower part lay on the footpath, covered with a maroon shawl. She had supported her head with her right hand, her left arm clutching at her chest.
Now, her cold body lies on a sink at City Mortuary, dressed in a black top and black skirt. Her hands are positioned atop her head as if she were stretching, and a white ribbon is tied to her left leg.
Three mortuary attendants, all women, say they found the body when they got to work in the morning. The body, they say, was taken to the morgue by police, and that her identity is unknown. Her fingerprints have been taken to help identify her.
Hard ground
On the hard ground, Susan disclosed that she had lain there since Monday night, unable to move because of chest pains and body aches. She begged for pain killers, and took long pauses before managing to get out single words.
She recalled that she had been outside Jamia Mosque when police rounded her and other women up and forced them to huddle together on the street. Soon after, they were bundled into the back of a police pickup truck, some with children strapped to their backs, and taken to the Central Police Station. It was around 7.30pm.
At the station, they were made to sit on the floor behind the reception counter, said Mary Karambu, a street mother who sat close to Susan. It was already dark when they were led out in pairs, and those who went out before them never went back in.
“We only heard them screaming. When our turn came, Susan and I were led outside, behind a canteen where we met three female and six male police officers. One of the women wore a hijab. They had gloves on, stinging nettles and a bucket of water,” Ms Wambui says.
“We were ordered to take off all our clothes, and were beaten with the stinging nettles, which make the body itch uncontrollably. Since it was dark, three males had torches, and the females inserted their fingers in our private parts.”
Susan was released before Mary. The next day, Ms Karambu said, she saw her sleeping under the building on Kimathi Street but when she called out to her she did not respond.
Other women arrested alongside the duo were 35-year-old Alice Wambui, Amina Chemtai and Lucy Khadija. They all had children.
Ms Wambui, a hawker and single mother of six, was heading to a Naivas store near City Market on the same evening when she met an old friend, who asked her to walk with her and help hold the hand of one of her young children.
“Suddenly, a commotion ensued, and people were running in all directions. I was caught in the middle, and when I tried defending myself, I was told to sit down and stay silent. My one-year-old was strapped on my back,” says Ms Wambui.
Thrown into the truck
She was thrown into the truck with her child and luggage, and after the ordeal, she would end up wearing someone else’s underwear.
Ms Chemtai was collecting money from her merry-go-round group members when she spotted a crowd of women outside Jamia Mosque.
Thinking that the women were receiving some form of aid, she put her money in her pocket and walked towards the crowd. The next thing she knew an officer grabbed her by the arm, saying, “Ndiye huyu mwingine,” before dragging her towards the truck.
“My child is feeling sore from being squeezed in the truck. At the station, where we were required to sit down, we were ordered to untie our children from our backs and hold them. An officer from the station came to find out what was going on, but was turned away,” Ms Chemtai says.
“When we were led out in pairs, we were told that we were going to be interviewed, and that we would be housed in free houses in Ruai. I was beaten with the plants, and cold water poured on me as a male officer held a torch light on me.”
At the time of the arrest, Ms Khadija, 34, had just finished her 7pm evening prayer.
“They inserted their fingers in us, saying they wanted to check if we were commercial sex workers. After the beating, they released us, and most of us put on our clothes on the road outside the station,” she says.
“They never told us why we were arrested, but we figured that they suspected that we were beggars. Even then, I am not. I sell mats and when the day ends, I do my evening salah and go home to Mathare.”
She added that out of the 10 women arrested, four were elderly, and that the oldest child was a year old.
“I know all those officers’ faces, and I can identify them,” she adds.
But the three women said they were having difficulty reporting the incident at police stations.
“I went back to report the assault at the Central Police Station but was turned away by a female police officer. She said she didn’t want the incident to be brought up again, and that I should be silent about it because we had been forgiven and released,” Ms Wambui said.
“I still don’t understand what I was forgiven for because I did not commit any crime.”
She added that she visited the Pangani Police Station on Wednesday morning. Ms Khadija and Ms Chemtai made their way to the Kamukunji Police Station the same afternoon.
“Susan was unable to accompany us to make the report. She could not even get up. Even then, we weren’t successful as we were told to report the matter to a different police station,” Ms Khadija says.
Healthy
She swore that Susan was okay and healthy on Sunday evening. They had met outside the mosque, and Susan had even asked Ms Khadija to get her a cup of tea.
“She fell ill after the incident. Those police officers killed Susan, but there is nothing much we can do because we fear they might come after us,” Ms Khadija says.
“She told us she has two daughters, but we do not know their names nor where they live. We are just sad that she met her death in an undeserving manner, and that she might be buried in an undignified manner if she won’t be claimed.”
The Deputy OCPD of Central Police Station Dorris Mugambi said she is not aware of the incident as she has not received a report.
“I am not aware, if the police officers turned them away, they should have made an effort to see the senior officers. That is the only way we can find out the truth. I cannot deny in totality, and at the same time I cannot respond because I am not privy to that information,” she said.
She added: “We do not have post-mortem examination results to confirm that the death of that mother was occasioned by injuries. So as at now, I can only say that is a rumour. Let these women come and make a report, and if this indeed happened, investigations will commence,” Ms Mugambi said. BY DAILY NATION