Mombasa, Kenya — An autopsy has revealed that a man who died inside Mombasa Central Police Station last week suffered a fatal neck fracture, intensifying public anger over deaths in police custody.
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) confirmed on Monday that 40-year-old Simon Warui died from cardiorespiratory collapse caused by a fracture or dislocation of the neck. The findings have cast fresh doubt on the police account of his death.
Warui was reported missing in Nairobi on 14 September. Four days later, his family learnt he had died while being held in Mombasa — hundreds of kilometres away. His presence in the coastal city remains unexplained.
IPOA Chairperson Issack Hassan said investigators had begun gathering evidence, interviewing witnesses, and reviewing police procedures. “The safety of detainees is paramount,” he said in a statement. “We will ensure justice is served.”
The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has also stepped in. Its leadership questioned how Warui ended up in Mombasa, noting that his last confirmed sighting was in Nairobi. “This case raises troubling questions,” an LSK spokesperson said.
Police officials suggested Warui fell from a wall in the cells, but rights groups quickly dismissed the explanation as implausible. “We have seen this before — questionable deaths in custody with little accountability,” said one Nairobi-based activist.
Kenya has faced repeated criticism over such incidents. In August, 33-year-old Raymond Nachibati died in a Kakamega police cell just hours after his arrest. A year earlier, blogger and teacher Albert Ojwang died after what witnesses described as a violent assault inside Nairobi’s Central Police Station, sparking nationwide protests.
Despite government pledges to reform the police service, watchdogs argue that little has changed. Human rights groups say the deaths highlight a pattern of abuse that undermines public trust.
For Warui’s family, the questions remain painfully simple: how did a missing man in Nairobi end up dead in Mombasa — and who will be held responsible?
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