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Man sues bank for ‘sex deprivation’ while in police custody


A man who worked for a local bank for 17 years has moved to court seeking damages for missing his conjugal rights for five days when his former employer allegedly caused him to be unlawfully arrested and detained.

Peter Michobo Muiru who worked for Barclays Bank since 1978 as a storekeeper, in his suit, claimed that his employer had him wrongly arrested and detained because he was allegedly discussing work matters with a colleague.

Mr Muiru claimed that the incident happened two years before he was retrenched from his workstation at the Limuru branch and that the bank has refused to apologize and compensate him.

He claims that even after writing a demand letter to the financial institution, the bank’s lawyers dared him to go to court.

“I took their advice and consulted my lawyer who wrote a demand letter giving them a notice to sue. I suffered for being confined for five days and I was denied my freedom and robbed my dignity. I was denied the right to go to church and my conjugal rights for the five nights,” he said.

On February 5, 1993 at around 11am, Mr Muiru said he was carrying out his duties when a security officer called Mr Wanjohi walked into his office and questioned him on what he was discussing with a colleague the previous day.

He alleged that he had told the security officer that they were discussing normal work issues but Mr Wanjohi demanded that he records a statement with the police over what he had said.

RETRENCHED

He also alleged that he requested for half an hour to inform his immediate boss, the Branch’s Accountant and to complete his work of balancing books as well as hand over the store keys as per the required procedure.

He added that he found the accountant, the manager, Mr Wanjohi with two Tigoni police officers in a meeting before he was led out of the bank, bundled into a waiting saloon car and whisked away to the station.

He claimed he was shocked with the turn of events when he was ordered to remove his shoes and was thrown into the police cells.

He also claimed that he had pleaded with Mr Wanjohi but he only laughed at him and shouted at him to stay there while walking away.

He further claimed that he found his colleague already there, were released the following day at around 3am, frog marched to the crimes office and were forced to rewrite a handwritten letter which indicated that the head of staff will be chopped off by February 10, 1993, five times.

He also said they were remanded till that date, no charges were brought against them and in August 1995, he was retrenched.

In his suit against the bank and the Attorney General, he faults his former employer for wrongful and malicious arrest as well as detention.