Court suspends probation of girl who was stripped by police

The High Court has set aside the 18-month probation sentence handed to a form four student for possession of bhang.

Justice George Odunga ordered the director of public prosecutions to respond to a case in which the girl is seeking Sh7 million in compensation for indecent exposure.

The student was accused of hiding the four rolls of bhang, valued at Sh80, in her private parts.

Justice Odunga said the girl’s rights were violated after her nudity was exposed to the public.

The judge made the ruling in a case filed by cradle, a children’s rights group, challenging the probation sentence.

Lawyers for cradle said the girl’s rights to human dignity, security, privacy and access to justice were violated.

The lawyers, Duncan Okubasu and Gladys Wamaitha, claimed police stripped the girl in public “and exposed her privacy to cameramen in the name of trying to recover the hidden drugs”.

The case will be heard on September 8^th 2015.

The girl was among the 45 high school students arrested using drugs and engaging in public sex aboard a bus.

Her picture was taken as a police officer strip-searched her at Sagana Police Base.

The images, which were shared widely on social media, caused outrage with many saying the student’s rights had been violated.

Through Kioko Munyithia Ngugi and company advocates, the student has sued the Inspector General, Attorney General and Director of Public Prosecutions over the incident.

In the suit, the girl says that the officers’ actions violated her privacy, security, access to justice and rights as an arrested person.

Though her lawyers, the teenager said her case resulted from invasive misconduct by police, therefore it is invalid.

In her petition, the school girl argues that the incident has caused her embarrassment, anxiety and mental distress.