Probe on after man’s body retrieved from river in Makueni

Police have launched investigations after a man’s body was retrieved from a river in Mikuyuni, Makueni county.

The authorities are determined to unravel the circumstances surrounding the man’s death.

The middle-aged man’s body was retrieved from River Muinga in Kaiti subcounty on Monday.

Police said the deceased had earlier been reported as a missing person before his body was discovered and retrieved from the said river. He hailed from Miting’ani village in Ukia location.

The body, according to police, had visible head injuries when it was retrieved from the waters.

It’s suspected that the deceased’s killers hit him on the head using blunt objects, leading to his death, before they dumped his body into the river.

Police responded to the scene, processed and cleared it before removing the body to a mortuary awaiting an autopsy.

No arrest had been made in connection with the man's death by press time.

The incident happened hours after a woman’s body was retrieved from River Athi in Yatta, Machakos county.

The elderly woman is said to have drowned after a canoe she was in, together with five other women, capsized while they were crossing the river at Kalandini area in Yatta subcounty.

The four managed to escape unhurt after they were rescued by the locals, police said.

Local divers together with officers from the Kenya Red Cross Society, helped retrieve the body.

It was moved to a mortuary within Yatta subcounty, awaiting an autopsy.

Police have launched investigations into the incident.

Elsewhere in Matungulu within the same Machakos county, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations detectives attached to KBC police station are investigating an incident where a man’s body was found dumped by the roadside.

The officers, alongside their colleagues from the DCI sprang into action after the body was discovered lying along Tala – Oldonyo Sabuk road within Tala Township in Matungulu, Machakos county, on Sunday.

The matter was reported to Tala police station by a local administrator shortly after he received information on the same.

Police officers from the station, accompanied by their counterparts from KBC rushed to the scene and established that the body of a man suspected to be between 30 and 40 years of age was lying on the said road as reported.

Members of the public thronged the scene as the officers processed it before removing the body to Kangundo Level 5 hospital mortuary. The deceased had visible severe injuries on his body. 

Police said the man might have been murdered elsewhere and his body ferried before being dumped at the scene where it was discovered.

Machakos County has experienced several cases of murder and bodies being dumped, with the recent incident being of a 27 – year – old man whose body was retrieved from Kwa-Nzuna Dam in Ngomeni village, Matungulu subcounty, within the same county seven days ago.

Police said the body of Dominic Muia was recovered during a joint operation involving officers from Tala Police Station, local divers, and personnel from the Kenya Red Cross Society.

According to police, the operation followed a report from a member of the public who alerted officers that a body had been seen floating in the dam.

Officers responded to the report, visited the scene, and confirmed its accuracy before retrieving the body.

Police further stated that the body was later identified by a close relative of the deceased.

The body was removed to Kangundo Level 4 Hospital mortuary, where it is being preserved pending a postmortem examination to establish the cause of death.

Police said investigations into the circumstances surrounding the incident are ongoing.