Teenager and goats ‘killed by police’ buried in same grave
Lokichar Town residents witnessed a rare spectacle on Monday when a teenager was buried with two goats.
Lokusi Chapo Tireu, 17, and the goats were on their way to Kakong from Lokichar in search of pasture and water when they were killed late last month.
The killing of the teenager and the animals was reported to his family by fellow herders.
The herdsmen said Tireu was shot by police officers patrolling the Kainuk-Lokichar road. Family members confronted the said officers at Lokichar but did not get any answers.
They told the Nation that they transported Tireu’s body and the goat carcasses to Lodwar County Referral Hospital mortuary.
The family members took the teen’s body and the carcasses of the goats for burial when mortuary bills mounted.
Tireu’s uncle, Mr Reuben Losike, said the family would continue demanding justice. He asked human rights groups to go to their aid.
BEFITTING SENDOFF
Mr Losike said there was nothing to show that Tireu was a bandit and that is why they had decided to give him a befitting sendoff.
According to Turkana beliefs, anybody killed while committing a crime is not supposed to be buried. The body is left in the open to be eaten by scavenging birds and animals.
“It is our belief that if anyone touches the body of a bandit, he, too, will die by the bullet. Because Tireu was not a criminal, we gave him a proper burial as we continue seeking the truth,” Mr Losike said.
Tireu’s mother, Mrs Amaire Lokusi, could not hold back tears.
“No one has ever complained that my son has taken part in anything sinister or killed anybody on the highway. Why was he shot?”
She said police should produce evidence to show that Tireu was a bandit.
Mrs Lokusi said her son was the family’s breadwinner. Lokichar police refused to comment on the matter when contacted.