A man arrested for threatening and attempting to assault his mother has died in a police cell in Bungoma county.
Elvis Simiyu from from Kibachenje village, Bumula constituency was arrested by officers from Mateka Administration Police (AP) camp on Wednesday, April 3.
Julius Barasa, Chief South Bukusu, confirmed the incident saying the deceased killed himself in the AP camp cell where he had been temporarily detained According to the administrator, he was set to be transferred and booked in at Bumula Police post.
“I was called by the police in charge and when I reached there the suspect reported to be in his late 20s had hanged himself using his shirt. He was awaiting to be transferred to a gazetted police station,” said Barasa.
The deceased had been apprehended shortly after going to Kibachenje Primary School where his mother teaches and attempted to assault her over an escalating family property row.
“My son visited the school where I teach. He demanded for an agreement letter for a parcel of land we had bought for him. He wanted to sell it which I opposed strongly,” said the deceased’s father Evelyn Wafubwa.
According to Wafubwa, her angry son attacked her prompting her colleagues to intervene. The teachers called the police who apprehended Simiyu for attempted assault and causing disturbance.
She said her son had become hostile in the recent past having threatened to hack her to death if she would not give him the land ownership documents.
“It was clear he needed the purchase agreement to sell the parcel,” said Wafubwa. The body of the deceased was taken to Bungoma County Referral Hospital mortuary.