MURANG’A, Kenya, Nov 24 – Police have opened investigations into an incident in which a journalist was physically assaulted by security officers attached to Second Lady Dorcas Rigathi in Muranga County.
Dorcas is the wife to Deputy President Rigathi Gachachaua and she was in Muranga to distribute food when the incident happened on Thursday.
Mwangi Muiruri who is a Daily Nation correspondent in the county, had reportedly drawn out his mobile phone to record the arrival of Dorcas when the security descended on him.
Soon after recording the Second Lady, her security officers pounced on him and roughed him up. It is not clear what motivated the assault that was caught on camera.
It was until a police officer in uniform intervened to stop the beating on Muiruri.
Muiruri said he was doing his job when the officers assaulted him. He said he will file a police complaint.
Police in the area said they will take action when the journalist files a complaint.
Even though police officers are generally allowed to use reasonable force when arresting suspects, the law clearly states that nothing should justify the use of greater force than is reasonable or necessary.
Use of force, especially to effect an arrest, is usually deemed “excessive” when the actions are unnecessarily aggressive or confrontational when lesser actions may have been appropriate in resolving the situation.
Section 21 of Kenya’s Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) stipulates how arrests should be made.
Officers may use all means necessary to effect an arrest if the suspect forcibly resists the endeavour to arrest or attempts to evade the arrest.
In most cases, police officers are advised to use the minimum force necessary to diffuse a situation, even if it would take longer.
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