Uproar after police officers in Voi captured on CCTV beating up students

Police in Voi are being accused of brutality against students of The Coast Institute of Technology following a protest.

Recovered CCTV footage from one of the student hostels in Voi shows police officers beating the students and other forms of punishment with human rights activists condemning the acts.

This came following protests by the students against a raise in school fees on Tuesday.

Some of the videos captured on CCTV from Saint Elizabeth hostel, a ladies hostel at the institution, show male police officers in uniform forcing the students to crawl through a wet floor after the officers poured cold water on them.

The footage shows the officers caning the girls as they desperately cry for mercy

The affected students now say the horror went on for more than 30 minutes and it is alleged it was even worse in other hostels. Traumatizing as it was, female police officers watched and sometimes helped their male colleagues to punish the ladies.

The students had earlier on Tuesday protested the proposed fees increment, the institution’s poor infrastructure and failure by the institution to set up required measures to curb COVID-19.

Taita Taveta County Police boss Francis Sang however denied claims that his officers harassed the students saying he was not aware and nobody had raised any complaints.

He defended the police saying they were patrolling to ensure that the students did not destroy property.

Taita Taveta Haki Africa representative Alex Mbela criticised the actions by the police terming them inhuman and a violation of the rights of the students.

Despite the call by the college management for students to leave the school premise, the students insisted on remaining in school claiming they have already paid school fees which they need utilised for this semester.