By JULIUS MBALUTO
A video clip trending on social media shows a mother shouting to the police pleading and asking them not to kill her son. She does so as the video shows clearly the police punching Wycliff the son and one of them kneeling on his chest.
This is a Kenyan mother, Damaris Karimi also known as Damaris Japhet. She is the mother of Wycliff Mwenda Cox, the young man who was beaten. The mother and the son hail from Meru County in Kenya but they have been residents in the UK for a long time.
The incident happened in Colchester, Essex, UK. Explaining how the incident happened, Damaris said that her son was unwell and had an ongoing mental condition. He would occasionally fail to take medication as he sometimes would be in denial of his own condition. In times like this, Wycliff would be a bit violent but when given help by the hospital, he would be back to his normal state.
They had been advised to always call the ambulance who would be able to handle him and take him to the hospital. So on 21st September 2020, Wycliff seemed unsettled and the mum knowing that he had not taken medication, called the ambulance.
She was calling for help. She specifically requested for the 24 year -old to be taken to the hospital. However, instead of the ambulance coming, the police came from Essex Police Station first. Instead of restraining him normally, they handcuffed him, threw him on the ground and one of them punched him continually.
He was bleeding on the nose and mouth. The mother kept shouting “don’t kill my son”. However, one officer knelt on Wycliff’s chest. Damaris shared that Wycliff was in such a bad state and when the ambulance came, she wanted to accompany him to the hospital for fear that he might die but the police refused to let her in.
She was also denied the chance to visit him. She would plead with the police to even be shown a clip of a video just to know he was alive, but they refused. It was only when she engaged a lawyer that she was allowed to see him on the 8th and 9th October 2020.
Damaris has complained to Essex Police bosses who told her the case may take 365 days to investigate, a time she feels is long. She has also spoken to her local MP and complained to IOPC (Independent Office for Police Conduct) which has not responded. She has also informed Kenya High Commission in London.
Damaris shared that her son has suffered a lot. He had his hand dislocated in his former school through bullying and the bullying was so bad that she had to move houses as a result. As to how she is getting along, Damaris says for several days, she would just see flashbacks of the incident and that has been very traumatic.
On the day in question, she said she was so angry that witnessing what was being done to the son made her feel like she was flying. However, she says, “I thank God my son is still alive” She was sad to witness him being punched, tied legs and hands and thrown in a police van without any care at all.
She said it was wrong to beat Wycliff instead of helping him as a sick person as the system knew his condition. She says she’s ready to pursue justice for her son Wycliff Mwenda Cox. – Informer East Africa
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