As the country’s political titans prepare to ink new deals to end the tensions that have rocked the country in the last couple of weeks, a family in Nyalenda is nursing wounds after losing two sons to the protests.
Everlyne Achungo is a heartbroken and inconsolable mother. All her hopes of seeing her two sons alive went up the flames at the weekend as they succumbed to their wounds.
William Amulele, 24, and his younger brother Brian Oniang’o, 22, died while undergoing treatment at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital.
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At the facility, their beds were placed side by side as doctors desperately tried to save their lives.
On Saturday, however, the slim hopes of rescuing them ran out as Amulele also succumbed to his injuries. His younger brother had died two days earlier.
The siblings suffered several injuries after they were battered by police officers who raided homes in the Nyalenda estate during the Azimio protests. The officers had claimed the victims were part of protestors.
When The Standard visited her home in Western, Nyalenda, the pain was written on her face. Her eyes appeared swollen and red due to crying for several days.
To her, the protests have left her with the pain she will struggle to endure for the rest of her life. She, alongside other family members, claims they wished they could take the place of the young souls plucked from their midst at their prime.
“I do not know why this had to happen to me. My two sons were dragged out of the house and beaten by police officers,” she says amid sobs.
On the fateful day, she says, she heard screams emanating from outside, and when she went to check the house where her two sons were residing, she met horror.
Her two sons were writhing in pain and had been beaten.
“Doctors told me that they suffered cracked skulls,” she says.
She claimed her two sons had just moved to the rented house about three weeks ago and were sharing the house. The house is located a few meters away from hers.
On Wednesday, the family started burial plans for the duo even as they hope for justice.
Cynthia Akoth, a neighbour, claimed that they are hoping the police officers who assaulted the two brothers will be brought to book.
“We are just hoping there will be justice. The death has left the family and neighbours devastated,” she said.
In Kisumu, 16 people succumbed to injuries after they were allegedly assaulted by police officers. Four bodies have already been buried, while 11 others are still lying at the JOOTRH mortuary.
At the weekend, ODM leaders told The Standard they are collecting evidence from the families of the victims and survivors of police brutality to lodge a suit at the International Criminal Court (ICC).