Woman accused of assaulting police officer says she was defending herself

A woman accused of assaulting a police officer in Nairobi on Monday denied the accusations, saying that the officer beat her up after she allegedly refused to have sex with him.

Appearing before a Nairobi court on Tuesday, Mary Wanjiru Ndung’u pleaded not guilty to charges of assaulting Police Constable Francis Maina and claimed she was defending herself.

“I went to report my boyfriend at Central Police Station on March 18. While at the gate, I met this officer who told me to go with him and file a report at the complaints desk. While we were there, he asked me for a ‘shot’ (sex),” she said.

“I told him I could not … It was then that he started beating me up; he punched me in the face. I had to fight back to save myself.”

According to the charge sheet, Ms. Wanjiru assaulted Mr. Maina on Sunday at 2am.

The judge ordered that Ms. Wanjiru be taken to Kilimani Police Station to record a statement and later to hospital to have her injuries attended to. She was later released on a cash bail of Ksh30, 000 and a mention of the case is set for Wednesday.