Police probe death of man jailed for selling chang'aa who died in cells

Police are investigating the death of a man who had been arrested for selling chang'aa and later died inside Nairobi’s Huruma Police Station cells on November 5.

A police report sent to the Kenya Police Service headquarters indicated that Tom Odiado became ill while in the cells and was rushed to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Odiado had been sentenced to serve three months in jail for possession of the illicit liquor after he pleaded guilty to the charge. Senior Principal Magistrate Hellen Okwani had on Monday sentenced Odiado but he died Tuesday morning in the police cells.

The magistrate had given him the option of paying a Sh20,000 but the deceased could not raise the amount.

Odiado had been arrested with eight litres of chang'aa, packed in polythene bags, in Starehe, Mathare Sub-County in Nairobi on November 2.

A report from the police station indicates that Odiado was escorted to prison but the Kenya Prisons Service declined to receive him because of his condition. Odiado was reportedly unwell

This prompted police to return him to the cells.

"On November 5, at 00902 hours, it was reported by Corporal Lena Kemunto that one prisoner, Tom Odiado, was booked vide OB 87/4/2024, who appeared sickly, who required medical attention," the report reads.

The OB entry says officers on duty escorted Odiado to hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

It further says the matter is under investigations.

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