Baby allegedly beaten by Kenyan police dies, says doctor

T TV Wednesday 16/August/2017 12:52 PM
By: Times News Service

Samantha Pendo, a six month-old baby allegedly beaten and teargassed by Kenyan police in post-election violence has died, her doctor says. David Doyle reports.
The six-month old victim of post-election violence in Kenya.
Samantha Pendo, left in a coma after being allegedly teargassed and clubbed by police, has now died, her doctor said on Tuesday.
The baby girl was asleep in her mother's arms when police forced their way into her home, her parents said earlier.
"They throw the tear gas inside and it was so smoky and I had a six-month old baby there, she can't even breathe. She was rubbing her eyes because of that, something was itching her. (WHITE FLASH) One of the guy beat me and the other one came with that stick on them, hit the baby. Then I left the baby off of my hand because she did not cry, I did not feel any movement."
The baby and her parents were beaten on Saturday as police swept their neighbourhood in the city of Kisumu looking for protesters, residents told Reuters.
Kisumu is the stronghold of opposition leader Raila Odinga who is contesting results from last Tuesday's presidential election.
Odinga's accusations of vote rigging have led to protests in Kisumu and Nairobi's slums.
Kenya's police have been accused by residents of using lethal violence. The force says its reponse has been lawful and proportionate.
The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said on Saturday that 24 deaths had been reported nationwide since the election last Tuesday. The government puts the death toll at 10.
Police have promised to investigate all incidents, but human rights groups say they rarely hold officers to account for extrajudicial killings.
And whatever the outcome, such investigations are unlikely to provide much consolation to Samantha's grieving parents.