A man from Meru County has narrated his ordeal in the hands of police after travelling over 700km from Malindi in bid to bury his wife.
The man, identified as Charles Mwenda, said that on May 29, 2020, at around midnight, police officers stopped the church bus he was traveling in at the Keria roadblock.
This, he said, was the last roadblock he had to clear on his journey from Malindi.
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The bus, belonging to Methodist Church in Malindi, was ferrying 31 people and the casket bearing the remains of his wife, Faith Mwende, for burial at Kianjai in Tigania West, Meru County.
Among the passengers were his close relatives who had accompanied him for the burial.
But at the Keria roadblock, his relatives were ordered by police to travel to Malindi, leaving Charles alone to deal with his problem.
The police, he said, escorted him to Chogoria in Tigania West and it was at this point that things got thicker for Charles.
The bereaved man claimed that police officers threatened to put in a 14-day quarantine after the burial if he did not comply with their orders.
He said that the police officers dropped him off at Kianjai Police Station, about 5km from home, leaving him to spend the cold night with the casket.
As it was raining, Charles said that he moved the casket under a lorry for shelter and spent the night there.
“I pleaded with the police to help me get the body to my home which is 5km from the police station, but they refused,” he adds.
It was not until the next day that a friend helped him to carry the body home where he buried her in the absence of his three children, family and friends.
