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Eight Kenyan police officers have been suspended for allegedly helping a serial killer escape from prison, police said.
In July, police said Collins Jumaisi Khalusha confessed to murdering 42 women since 2022, including his wife.
Mr Kalusha’s lawyer denied the claim, saying his client was coerced into pleading guilty.
He had been held at the police station since his arrest in July, but police said on Tuesday that Mr. Halusa and 12 others escaped with “the help of an insider.”
The police department’s incident report said officers discovered the detainee missing while they were distributing breakfast at 5 a.m. local time (0300 GMT).
The 13 people managed to escape by cutting the wire mesh on the roof and scaling the perimeter wall, the report said.
Police said the 12 people who fled with Mr. Halusha were all Eritrean nationals detained for illegal entry.
Police added that eight officers who were on duty at the time have been suspended and the investigation is continuing.
Mr Kalusha, 33, was detained after nine dismembered bodies were found at an abandoned quarry in the capital, Nairobi.
According to police, the victims were aged between 18 and 30 and were all killed in the same manner.
Their killings sparked shock and anger, with many questioning why police did not discover the bodies in the quarry, about 100 meters (109 yards) from the police station.
They also want to know how 42 people could have been murdered over a two-year period without police noticing – and how, after so long not suspecting anything, police were able to arrest a suspect less than three days after the bodies were found in a quarry.
Kenya’s police watchdog has also expressed some suspicions. Following “widespread allegations of illegal arrests (and) abductions by police,” the Independent Police Oversight Authority launched an investigation to determine whether the police themselves were involved in the killings.
The agency has not yet released its findings.
Kenyan police have been accused of dozens of human rights violations in the past, and police are currently being investigated for deaths and kidnappings in connection with the following incidents: Recent anti-government protests.
At the time of Kalusha’s arrest, Director General of the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI), Mohamed Amin, said: “We are clearly dealing with a serial killer, a psychopathic serial killer who has no regard for human life, no respect and dignity.”
“He said he confessed because he was strangled. You could tell he was in pain, scared and sad,” Kalusha’s lawyer, John Maina Ndegwa, told the BBC in July.
The suspect appeared in a Nairobi court on Friday, where a judge ordered him to be detained for another 30 days to allow police to complete their investigation, AFP reported.
Nation remains in shock as dismembered bodies are found The so-called Shakahora Forest MassacreMore than 400 bodies were found in mass graves near the Indian Ocean coast.
Cult leader Paul McKenzie has allegedly encouraged his followers to go on hunger strike to “see Jesus”.
He has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter.
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