Julia Njoki Dies After Assault In Police Custody
Njoki was arrested on Monday, July 7, during the Saba Saba commemoration protests across the country and taken to Nanyuki Police Station pending arraignment in court the following day.
Marvin Chege 
A family in Nanyuki, Laikipia County, is in mourning following the death of their kin, Julia Njoki, who was allegedly assaulted in police custody, in what is reminiscent of the death of teacher Albert Ojwang.
Njoki was arrested on Monday, July 7, during the Saba Saba commemoration protests across the country and taken to Nanyuki Police Station pending arraignment in court the following day.
Njoki's aunt, Grace Rene, in a painful statement on her Facebook page posted on Friday, July 11, revealed that the deceased was, however, brutally beaten by police officers at the station on the very same day she was arraigned.
Anti-riot police officers fire teargas to disperse demonstrators during the Saba Saba anti-government protests in Nakuru, Kenya, July 7, 2025. /YAHOO NEWS
"On Monday, 7th July, my niece Julie was arrested in Nanyuki — a town I once thought was peaceful. The next day, she was taken to court, and a judgment was passed. That same night, in police custody, she was brutally beaten. The same people who are meant to protect her left her unconscious," she wrote.
Grace went on to add that Julie was rushed to the hospital with the truth about what happened to her at the hands of police concealed, until tests conducted on her revealed, in devastating circumstances, that she had been hit in the head and was bleeding internally.
To make matters worse, the family claims, the police had delayed her treatment and mishandled the matter in silence, with Grace adding that "By the time real help came, it was too late."
"We lost Julie. She didn’t deserve to die. No one does. I’m broken. I’m angry. I’m grieving. How do you jail a Gen Z on Monday and report them dead by Wednesday? How are we supposed to trust a system that kills the very people it’s meant to protect?" she angrily posed.
Her death has sparked fresh outrage amongst Kenyans still reeling from the death of Ojwang in similar circumstances. Lawyer Paul Muite, Miguna Miguna, and Hanifa Adan are among high-profile personalities who have expressed uproar and heartbreak over Julie's demise.
Some leaders and members of the public have turned to social media to denounce the ongoing incidents of police brutality that continue to claim the lives of young Kenyans.
On June 23, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) recorded close to 20 deaths in police custody in 15 days in the wake of Ojwang's murder, with no telling yet how many more Kenyans have died in police custody in the space of one month now.
With the nation grieving the loss of yet another youth, attention has once again shifted to the police, who have remained silent on the accusations, raising questions about whether accountability will finally be pursued.
