Officers from the Independent Policing Oversight Authority have begun probing a rape allegation involving a cop in Siaya.
The Star has established that Ipoa investigators visited the complainant at her home in Sega town on Saturday. She confirmed that the investigators recorded her statements before visiting the crime scene at Sega police station.
Siaya county police commander Francis Kooli confirmed receiving a letter from Ipoa about the intended probe on Wednesday.
"I am aware of the investigations. I have instructed the leadership of the station to cooperate with them and make available all relevant documents to the case should they need any," he said.
Kooli said DCI detectives from Ukwala were also probing the matter.
"The lady has recorded statements with the detectives and investigations into the incident is ongoing," he said, adding that the police had nothing to hide.
Kooli told the Star on Sunday that once the investigations are completed, the file will be forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for further advice.
"Upon completion, investigators are expected to come up with their recommendations based on the findings. If the ODPP concurs with whatever findings, then appropriate action will follow," he said.
The complainant wants justice.
Last Monday, she and her eight-year-old son left their rental house in Sega to go to a shop. She had just relocated to the small town from Nairobi and needed to buy some household items to begin a new life away from the city.
Having bought the items, mother and son walked back to their house not far from Sega police station. She had no idea what would soon befall her on the way.
"We were past the gate to the police station when a policeman in uniform summoned me," she said.
The 32-year-old woman was immediately arrested for violating Covid-19 protocols. She did not wear a facemask.
Instead of being thrown into the cells, she says a duty officer asked her to clean the station's corridors, an office and toilets. This was the condition to secure her release for the offence.
"I was instructed by the officer to wash the rooms and the other areas then leave," she said.
Her son was directed by an officer to sit on a bench that was outside the report office.
During her arrest, there were no other members of the public at the station, except a few officers in uniform.
"I began to mop the corridor but the officer asked me to instead clean one of the offices adjacent to the cells, " she said. This was around 8.30am, according to her.
"He showed me the room and walked out, leaving me to clean the office that had a metal box, two chairs and a table."
After a few minutes, she says the officer walked back to the room and closed the door behind him using one of the chairs, and "everything happened fast."
"He grabbed me and pinned me down after overpowering me. My brief struggle with him was useless. He put his gun down and told me not to dare scream. He threatened to kill me if I made noise," she said.
She claims the officer went ahead to rape her before he cleaned himself and dressed up again.
"I was too scared to scream. He left me behind to dress up," she said.
She stepped out, but she says because of fear, she did not report to the other officers. Instead, she picked her son and left the station in a hurry, too confused to think about her next move.
"Once out of the station, I immediately rang my husband who is in Nairobi and narrated my ordeal in the hands of the officer," she said.
She then went to hospital in Sega town. "I was examined and given some drugs to take because he didn't use protection," she said.
But she says the clinical officer who attended to her asked her not to take up the matter with the police.
"He told me not to report the incident because I couldn't win against the police," she told the Star on Thursday morning.
That same day, at around 2 pm, she reported the matter to Ukwala police.
"The officers at the report desk refused to record the incident in the occurrence book. They just asked me to go to the hospital and be checked," she said.
It was after she went back to the station on Tuesday that the report was officially booked by the OCS Ukwala.
"I was again asked to go to the hospital for the third time for re-examination. I wasn't issued with the P3 form although I recorded my statements about the incident," she said.
On Wednesday afternoon, she was asked to report to the Ukwala police station to identify the police officer she alleged raped her.
This was after investigators probing the incident took away the clothes she wore that day.
"Fourteen officers, all in uniform, were paraded for identification. I picked him out. And it was later confirmed that he was the officer who was on duty the morning I was raped," she said.
Kooli said the identification parade was conducted on Wednesday last week at Ukwala police station as part of the probe.
"We will do our part as required and involve experts in regard to evidence collection and preservation. Then we will hand over the file to ODPP for further advice," he said.
He said the suspect will be arrested if investigations confirm that he was involved in the alleged offence.