- Suspicions are that Omondi was killed elsewhere and the body dumped at the dam.
- And this could be among others because he participated in the recent anti-tax protests.
A third-year Quantity Survey student at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, who went missing at the onset of anti-Finance Bill protests in Nairobi, died by drowning, a post-mortem report revealed.
An autopsy conducted Tuesday at Thika-based General Kago funeral home shows the 23-year-old had bruises on the back of his head and on his legs.
While the pathologists did not address journalists over the matter, Amnesty International Kenya Executive Director Irungu Houghton said Danzel Omondi’s body was discovered on July 6, floating in deserted Mashinani quarries in Juja.
This raised suspicion over his cause of death as his friends and family doubted he could have died by suicide or slipped there.
Amnesty International Kenya and other human rights organisations are demanding a probe into the death.
Suspicions are that Omondi was killed elsewhere and the body dumped at the dam.
And this could be among others because participated in the recent anti-tax protests.
“We demand a credible independent investigation to reveal and prosecute who abducted, killed, and dumped #OccupyCBD protester Denzel Omondi in a quarry to hide their crime,” said Irungu.
On June 25, Omondi was protesting at the National Assembly and would be later seen at the university the following day only to disappear on June 27.
“I am inside, where is this? Occupy parliament,” Omondi, the firstborn in his family is heard saying in a video of him within the vicinity of August House.
The deceased’s father James Otieno said he spoke to his son last on June 27 in the morning but his phone went off later in the day, an incident he thought was ordinary.
He said he later received distressing calls informing him about the disappearance of his son.
“The last time I spoke to him he had no signs of fear but when he went missing, that brought worry to us as a family. I spoke to him on June 27 but his phone went off in the evening and we thought he would call back. I came to learn of his disappearance later through a call from a person from home,” said Otieno.
“I am saddened by the death of my son Omondi. He was a promising man whom we hoped would finish his studies and become a productive nation-builder. We leave everything to God but we shall pursue justice,” he told journalists.
Police say they are investigating the incident.
A team from Juja said they were called and informed the student’s body was lying at the quarry.
Human rights organisations say dozens of people who participated in the protests are either missing or in hiding after learning they are being hunted by state agencies.