Kenyans took to social media to express sympathy and condole with family and friends of the late Baby Samatha Pendo during a requiem mass held for her at the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Kisumu. Her death continues to elicit moving reactions from Kenyans across the divide as most condemn the indiscriminate manner police brutalized supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga.
6-month old baby Pendo was admitted to the ICU unit of the Aga Khan Hospital Kisumu, after she suffered fatal injuries as police combed Kisumu residences to quell post-poll chaos that erupted once the IEBC declared Uhuru Kenyatta winner of the hotly contested August 8th presidential poll.
Baby Pendo succumbed to the injuries after being in a coma for a few days. A postmortem conducted on her revealed the cause of death to be internal bleeding resulting from pressure build up due to severe injuries she suffered on her head.
Baby Pendo is one of two children whose lives were cut short in the post-poll chaos. The other is Moraa Nyarangi, an 8-year old who was shot in the chest as she watched police engage protestors in running battles in the sprawling Kibera slums, a perceived stronghold of NASA presidential candidate Raila Odinga.
Kenya security chiefs were silent on the deaths of these two children and at some point the police spokesperson was quoted saying police did not use live bullets and that they only engaged looters masquerading as protestors.
Kenyans took to Twitter to express their sympathies using the hashtag #BabyPendoRequiem, while at the same time speaking against the police brutality that led to Baby Pendo’s demise. Here are some reactions;
I am disappointed that 2 Children died and no child rights organisation have spoken about it…… #babypendorequiem
— Jennifer Kaberi (@Dalithso) August 25, 2017
TERRORISTS WARNED.
Highly Trained Kenya Police Killed 6yrs Old Wanted Rioter,You Next!
Be Warned!#LetsTalkSecession
#BabyPendoRequiem— machozi ya mzalendo (@YaMzalendo) August 25, 2017
https://twitter.com/skgjnr/status/901015541816733697
#BabyPendoRequiem
RIP young one,my heartfelt condolences.This is why we need justice or we split peacefulness#LetsTalkSecession pic.twitter.com/VPFBaO9Hoz
— Mandela Onchwati (@mandelaonchwati) August 25, 2017
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