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Police pushed me down my balcony, says ailing mother


A woman is nursing fractures at a hospital in Eastleigh after allegedly being pushed down the balcony of her house in Eastleigh by police officers.

Mrs Fariah Ahmed, 38 alleged that four police officers from the General Service Unit threw her down the balcony of her house situated on the fifth floor of a flat in Eastleigh’s Third Street on May 9.

She said that four officers dressed in army uniform knocked on her door at around 11.30pm and said they were conducting a search which was part of the Operation Usalama Watch.

“They first asked me for my identity card, which I did before one of them said they did not need the ID as it would not help them,” Mrs Ahmed said.

Lorry driver

She claimed that one of the officers who had her ID card in his hands put it in his pocket and told her to show them where her husband was. They also warned her against failing to cooperating with them.

With the help of a translator, she said: “I told them my husband was not around and that he was in Sudan where he worked as a lorry driver but they would not listen,” she said.

The house situated on the fifth floor of a flat in Eastleigh’s Third Street.
The house situated on the fifth floor of a flat in Eastleigh’s Third Street.

“They told me that they had information that I was hiding people who did not have Kenyan identification but I denied. That is when one of them asked for money and jewellery from me,” she claimed.

When she failed to give money, Mrs Ahmed added that one of the officers pushed her down the balcony where she landed on the roof of a shanty next the building.

Her house help, Ms Asunta Kawira, said the police officers who were in uniform and seemingly drunk wanted Mrs Ahmed to go to the balcony so that they could talk.

“I presume they wanted to ask her something that they did not want anyone else to hear. A few minutes later, Mrs Ahmed and the officers had an altercation and we had her screaming,” Ms Kawira said.

Mrs Ahmed’s daughter, Postoya Liban, 15, said they only heard their mother scream and heard a loud bang.

“She was still and I thought she had died. The policemen rushed out in haste and we thought they were running out to rescue her but they disappeared,” Ms Liban said.

She alleged that the officers entered a vehicle that was waiting for them outside and went away.

The owner of the shanty where Mrs Ahmed fell, Mr Joseph Mwiga said he heard a loud bang on his roof and went out to check.

“There was a loud bang and then I saw someone’s legs. The iron sheet was broken and it carved in. She had fallen directly above a double decker bed and my two children were sleeping on the lower deck.”

“I asked my wife to get out the kids then I went to the roof top to save her. It was raining and I had to ask my neigbours to come and help me because she was heavy. I could not carry her down alone,” he said.

Mrs Ahmed was rushed by neigbours among them Mr Mwiga and Mr Zamzam Mahmud to the Alliance Hospital where she was treated before being taken to the Al Amin Hospital, where she is admitted to date.

“When she arrived here, she was wailing in pain. She had blood oozing from her head, her face, the back, the stomach and her leg and left hand had fractures,” a doctor at the Alliance Hospital said.

Her relatives said they could not afford the costs at Alliance and she was moved to Al Amin Hospital.

“We reported the incidence at Shauri Moyo police station, but no police officer came to investigate. They only came on Monday 12 after the BBC Radio and Al Jazeera aired the story,” Mrs Mahmud said.

Administration Police Spokesperson Masoud Munyi confirmed that the police headquarters had received Mrs Ahmed’s complaint and was conducting investigations.

“I cannot ascertain the authenticity of the claims that a police officer pushed the victim, but I cannot say that our officers are innocent because I do not know,” Mr Munyi said.

He also confirmed that the CID had gone to the victim’s house on Monday as part of the investigations.