Mystery over death of Moi University student

A family from Laikipia County wants the police to investigate the death of their son at the Moi University main campus in Uasin Gishu County.

The body of Japheth Muigai 21, a Microbiology second-year student was found hanging in one of the lecture rooms, a few metres from the administration block in Main Campus, his parents said.

Police, however, said the body was found in an empty hostel after students had been sent home after their strike.

Monica Mungai, the student's mother, said they got information after pictures of her son circulated on social media Saturday evening.

“We called some of his friends in the campus and they revealed that our son had been taken by police from Kesses Police Station to the mortuary,” she said.

She added that from the pictures they saw on social media showed his hands and neck  tied together, raising questions on how their firstborn son lost his life.

“We have tried to reach out to the varsity administration but [they]  failed to respond and to shed light on the unfortunate incident that happened to our son,” said Mrs. Mungai.

Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) Eldoret pathologist Dr. Benson Macharia said that from the postmortem done showed there were no physical injuries on the body.

“Suicide claims might have been stage-managed because no notable injuries were seen in the neck to indicate that the deceased committed suicide,” said Dr. Macharia.  

According to Kesses OCPD Aaron Muriasi, from the preliminary investigations, the deceased was communicating with his parents until shortly before his death on Saturday.

“The incident occurred at the time second-year students had been sent home a month ago following a strike and it was not clear how the deceased was still in the institution,” said Mr. Muriasi.

The OCPD said the investigation is still in progress and soon the suspects linked to the death of Muigai will be brought to book.

The family took the remains of their son to Laikipia.