Kenyan police held after dragging woman behind motorbike, whipping her

Three Kenyan police officers have been arrested after a widely circulated video showed the men dragging a woman behind a motorcycle and whipping her.

The arrests on Thursday came after the video taken the previous day in Kuresoi South, west of the capital, Nairobi, sparked outrage among social media users, activists and others.

In the one-and-a-half minute clip, a police officer is seen riding a motorcycle, 21-year-old Mercy Cherono being pulled along behind it, while others beat her. The ordeal causes her trousers to slide off, leaving her naked from the waist down.

“Three officers were yesterday arrested … following circulation of a video depicting a woman being whipped & dragged on a motorbike in Kuresoi South Sub-County,” the Directorate of Criminal Investigations said in a statement.

“The suspects are in lawful custody helping with further investigations into the matter,” it added.

The incident came amid an outcry over police brutality in Kenya, where law enforcement officers have often faced accusations by rights groups of using excessive force, especially in poor neighbourhoods.

On Monday, protesters poured onto the streets of Nairobi after the IPOA said police officers were involved in the killing of at least 15 people since the enforcement of a dusk-to-dawn curfew to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I am here to protest for our youth who have died at the hands of the police without any wrongdoing,” Rahma Wako, a demonstrator in the capital’s Mathare settlement said. “We are saying, ‘Enough is enough’. As mothers, many of our youth have been killed while being labelled as thieves.”

“[We are] telling them to stop killing our kids,” added Beatrice Rongo, another protester. “Mothers are crying, sisters, everybody – we are all hurt by this injustice of police brutality.”

The woman was reportedly accused of breaking into a police officer’s house.

The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) issued a statement saying it had launched an investigation into the matter.