Cop allegedly assaults man for hitting on his girlfriend

For six hours, Joseph Loldapash got what he calls a brutal sadistic beating from a police officer at Doldol in Laikipia West Constituency.

But that is a surface description. What Loldapash allegedly suffered was crude torture from a system meant to protect his life and that of his family.

Loldapash, 26, narrated to Citizen TV that the whole ordeal begun after he made advances on the policeman’s girlfriend.

He had seen a beautiful, young girl at the shopping centre earlier that day, but was not aware that she was dating the policeman.

The policeman reportedly got wind that Loldopash had his eye on his girlfriend, and that he had allegedly insulted her when she declined his advances, and this irked him.

He went after him and upon finding him at the shopping centre, the policeman, known to us only as Maina, allegedly confiscated Loldapash’s club and knife, which are common for men to carry in the area.

He took him away, cuffed his hands and feet, and tortured him for three hours in a police cell tucked in the heart of Doldol.

He narrated to Citizen TV that the officer beat him up using chains and a baton while he was still handcuffed so he could not defend himself.

The sadistic beating left him unconscious, and when he came back to his senses, the officer refused to let him go.

“They, however, let my mother and wife see me,” he said.

Loldapash added that he was denied food or water during the six-hour ordeal at Kimanju Police Station.

When it was over, the officer finally let him go, his first stop being a nearby hospital.

He needed stitches on his head and was drifting in and out of consciousness. He was bleeding from the cuts all over his body; his injuries were so bad that he could not be wrapped in linen.

When word got round that he was lying helpless in a hospital bed, the policeman, who was responsible for his situation, paid him a visit.

“He didn’t say a thing,” Loldopash said.

Within days, witnesses came forward confirming that they saw the policeman take him from the shopping centre, while others narrated that they saw him crawling to the hospital after he was set free.

They demanded justice on his behalf; others threatened to mete out the ‘justice’ themselves.

So far, no action has been taken against the said officer.

Officer Maina was reportedly transferred from Kamanju Police Station to another post within the constituency.

His victim, Loldapash, however, will need to be transferred to a different facility for specialized treatment, according to doctors.

Police brutality is seldom discussed, it is kept hidden and those who face this side of the police fear uttering a word lest it gets worse.

Loldapash cannot walk properly following the beating. When we met him a couple of days later, the scars on his back, arms, finger tips, left thigh, lower limbs and head showed the evidence of the six-hour torture he went through in the hands of the police officer.