At 11am last Saturday, Mohammed Salim left his family’s home in Likoni, Mombasa, without bidding any of his family members goodbye.
The Standard Eight pupil at Mrima Primary School was dressed in a blue Chelsea jersey, black shorts and a pair of black shoes, popularly known as crocs.
His mother, father and sisters, who were at home when Salim left, said it was normal for him to leave the house and return home by 6pm.
What they did not know was that Saturday would be the last day they would see him alive.
His body was found at the Coast General Hospital mortuary on Tuesday. Attendants told the family the body was taken there the same day Salim left home.
“I am yet to come to terms with the fact that my small brother is dead. He was a young boy who minded his business,” said Mr Omar Manji.
“When we came searching for him at the hospital we did not expect to find his body. We had hoped he was somewhere and would eventually come back home.”
Mr Manji said the family reported the boy’s disappearance to the Diani Central and Inuka police stations. At the Inuka station, the matter was recorded under OB Number 07/10/07/2022.
During the family’s search for Salim, they were told there was an unclaimed body recorded as unknown that fit the description of their missing boy.
“My elder sister was courageous enough to view the body and confirmed it was our brother’s,” Mr Manji noted.
According to police records, the body was found floating in the Indian Ocean at the Mama Ngina Waterfront the same day Salim went missing.
Police officers guarding the park discovered the body and called their colleagues from the Central Police Station, who took it to the mortuary.
The family said it was not interested in conducting a postmortem to find out the cause of Salim’s death.
Mr Manji said they signed an affidavit and were allowed to collect the body for burial. Salim was buried Tuesday at around 7pm in Mwananguvudze, Likoni.
“The body had injuries on the forehead. We are not going to do any postmortem,” said Mr Manji.
Mombasa Urban police boss Maxwell Agoro confirmed the incident, noting that it had not been established whether the boy had gone to the ocean to swim.
“Once a family signs an affidavit, they are allowed to decline a postmortem,” he said.
The cause of Salim’s death remains unknown.
He was set to sit his Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams this year. BY DAILY NATION