Outrage After 25-Year-Old Man Dies In Police Custody
Pressure is mounting on Malindi police after a 25-year-old man was found dead in a cell on Friday, April 17.
According to Vocal Africa CEO Hussein Khalid, the young man identified as Lucky Odhiambo Okoth was found lifeless in a puzzling case yesterday morning.
While referencing police reports, Khalid indicated that Okoth was found dangling on an improvised rope made from pieces of clothes inside a cell at Malindi Police Station.
Okoth is said to have been in the cell alone. There were 21 other prisoners being held at the police station, according to Khalid.
“The report (police report) says there were 21 other prisoners at the station, but that Lucky was in one cell alone!” he said in a statement on Saturday, April 18.
It is unclear whether or not he took his life, with Khalid calling for an independent probe into the incident.
Another death in police custody!
— husseinkhalid (@husskhalid) April 18, 2026
According to police reports, 25 years old Lucky Odhiambo Okoth was found dangling on an improvised rope made from pieces of clothes inside a cell at Malindi Police Station in the morning of Friday 17th April 2025.
The report says there were 21… pic.twitter.com/Z5W1DLOAlJ
Vocal Africa and the Malindi Community Human Rights Centre are following up on the incident as calls for the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA) to join the probe increase.
The death comes even as IPOA has launched an investigation into the death of Benard Cheruiyot, who died in police custody on March 29 at the Keringet Police Station.
Authorities at the station initially reported that Cheruiyot sustained fatal injuries after repeatedly striking his head against a cell wall.
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However, the victim’s family has publicly contested this account, asserting that Cheruiyot’s body bore extensive trauma.
Which includes visible injuries to his head, eyes, and mouth that they believe are inconsistent with self-harm.
David Munene Mwaniki walked into custody on 30th March 2026
— VOCAL Africa (@VOCALAfrica_) April 15, 2026
but he never walked out alive.
Arrested by Kenya Forest officers in Kangaita, it is alleged that he was brutally assaulted by the forest officers and later booked at Kerugoya Police Station. The following day in court,… pic.twitter.com/0xtfNpWBxD
The incident has intensified scrutiny of the National Police Service amid a sharp rise in custodial fatalities across the country since last year.
Human rights advocates and IPOA officials have characterised Cheruiyot’s death as part of a broader “state-sanctioned crisis”.
They also noted that 20 people have already died in police hands in the first four months of 2026.
Outrage After 25-Year-Old Man Dies In Police Custody
