Who killed Fathiya? The puzzle of a dead remandee and warders
Crime and Justice
By
Kamau Muthoni
| Mar 27, 2026
On February 28, 2020, Fathiya Hamud Nassir, alias Wairimu, had a normal day in Langata Women’s Prison, where she had been held on remand, awaiting trial in an alleged assault case.
The last time she was seen and heard alive was when she was going to fetch water that evening. However, whether there was a human hand, and who it was, if any, is the puzzle Kibera Principal Magistrate Christine Muthoni Njagi is trying to unravel in an inquest.
What all in the trial agree is that Fathiya went to the facility’s prison, took some 10 tablets (medicine), which she was accused of stealing, then she was rushed to Kenyatta National Hospital at 1am where the hospital indicated she died before arrival.
The dead talk too, so they say. Initially, the family opted to bury her without an autopsy, on the belief that she had died from consuming the meds. However, her face was allegedly bleeding, and she was swollen, something which raised suspicion of foul play.
The court heard yesterday from the investigating Officer, Hellen Koech, that Chief Government Pathologist, Dr Johansen Oduor, did an autopsy and concluded that she died from a head injury, caused by a blunt object.
A toxicology report from the government chemist further gave a new twist to the issue after a conclusion that she had not ingested any chemical or had not been poisoned.
The investigator told the court that at least four of the prisoners whom she interviewed fingered prison wanders
Koech told the court that in March 2020, she was called by her then Langata Police Station boss and tasked to look into an issue which had been raised about the deceased.
According to her, she was at Langata and had been held at Langata following a scuffle with her mother, Mariam Ahmed, which landed her in court. “It was an assault case,” she said. She said on March 10, 2020, she proceeded to Langata and found Everlyn Khaliti, who was in charge of the prison. “By that time, Madam Khaliti accepted, and we were directed to where the inmates stay,” she said.
The first inmate, Samantha Muriuki, who was also in for an assault offence, allegedly confirmed that Fathiya went to the dispensary and took away drugs meant for her.
She narrated that Samantha allegedly swallowed at least 10 tablets without the knowledge of the wardens. “She confirmed that after Fathiya swallowed them, the wardens, including Sergeant Habiba and Sergeant Hellen Olaba, came and she saw them assaulting Fathiya among others who were not known to Muriuki,” she continued.
The officer also said she interviewed Joyce Wanjiku, who was facing a child neglect charge. According to the officer, she also affirmed that she could identify the officers who used horse pipes to beat the deceased.
The other was a Leah Lukulu. She, too, claimed she saw the officers beating the deceased. Lukulu was in for an assault case.
“On September 16, 2021, I wrote to the person in charge asking that those who were on duty both day and night shift should come to Langata to record a statement on what transpired,” she said.
The court heard that the officers on duty on the fateful day complied by coming four days later. Constable Vivian Geke, who was also present at the facility’s dispensary, was also among those who recorded the statement. According to the IO, she told investigators that she left the dispensary unattended while accompanying two others to fetch water.
The officer said upon the prisoner’s return, some medicine was missing. According to her, the officer then reported to Olaba upon establishing that Fathiya had allegedly taken the medicine.