Baringo: 5 Forest Rangers Arrested After Form 3 Student They Allegedly Assaulted Dies In ICU

• Five officers from Kenya Forest Service (KFS) are in police custody in connection with the tragic assault of a young man in Baringo
• Stephen Mwangi succumbed to injuries while on treatment in the ICU at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH)
• Locals of Majimazuri where the deceased hailed from held protests, with the anti-riot police intervening to bar them from torching the KFS offices

Kai Eli, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings more than three years of experience covering politics and current affairs in Kenya.

Police have arrested five officers attached to the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) over their alleged involvement in the assault of a young man in Eldama Ravine.

Stephen Mwangi, a Form 3 student, died while receiving treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Eldoret's Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH).

KFS officers in trouble after student's tragic death

Baringo Forest Conservator Ann Nyaoke confirmed that the quintet was apprehended by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) detectives probing the case.

Mwangi was allegedly attacked by the officers on May 8 in the Majimazuri area.

The arrest came hours after irate members of the public took on the police in running battles on the morning of Tuesday, May 14, after their motive to torch the KFS offices as retaliation was repulsed.

They barricaded the Majimazuri-Makutano road to protest the assault that ended the young man's life.

Mwangi was rescuing her mother who had been apprehended by the suspects; they descended on him.

This would not be the first incident in which a civilian died tragically at the hands of state officers.

4 beaten to death by KDF soldiers

In December last year, four men who were found dead in the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) training school field in Uasin Gishu were beaten to death with blunt objects.

The victims were killed after allegedly trespassing into the Ngano maize farm owned by KDF to collect maize remains after harvesting.

Expressing disgust over the animosity between the residents and the soldiers, area MP Julius Rutto said he would be seeking a solution in the National Assembly.

Proofreading by Asher Omondi, current affairs journalist and copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.