NAIROBI: Kenyan police launched a major manhunt on Tuesday after a man they claim has confessed to murdering and dismembering 42 women escaped from a Nairobi police cell, along with several other detainees.

Collins Jumaisi, 33, described by police as a “vampire, a psychopath”, was arrested last month after the horrific discovery of mutilated bodies in a garbage dump in a slum in the Kenyan capital.

“Investigations have been launched and a major security operation is underway to get the 13 suspects,” Kenya police spokeswoman Resila Onyango said.

Police said in a separate statement that they discovered the breakout when officers made a routine visit to the police station cells at around 5:00am to serve the prisoners breakfast.

“On opening the cell door, they discovered that 13 prisoners had escaped by cutting the wire mesh in the basking bay,” it said, referring to an area in the station where detainees could get access to fresh air.

12 other detainees ran away by cutting the wire mesh in the basking bay

Those who fled were Jumaisi and 12 other people that police said were of Eritrean origin and were in custody for being “illegally present immigrants”. The police station is located in the upmarket Nairobi district of Gigiri, home to the regional headquarters of the United Nations and numerous embassies.

It is the second time in barely six months that a suspect in a high-profile case has escaped from custody. Kenyan national Kevin Kangethe, who is accused of murdering his girlfriend in the United States last year and leaving her body in an airport car park, fled a police station in February before being caught about a week later.

Kenya’s police watchdog, the Independent Police Oversight Authority, had also said it was looking into whether there was any police involvement or a “failure to act to prevent” the killings. Kenyan police are often accused by rights groups of carrying out unlawful killings or running hit squads, but few have faced justice.

Police under spotlight

Jumaisi had appeared in a court in the Kenyan capital on Friday, when the magistrate ordered him to be held for a further 30 days to enable police to complete their investigations.

Ten butchered female bodies trussed up in plastic bags were found in the dumpsite in an abandoned quarry in the Nairobi slum of Mukuru, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) said last month.

The grisly find shocked Kenyans, already reeling from the so-called Shakahola forest massacre after the discovery of more than 400 bodies in mass graves near the Indian Ocean coast.

A Kenyan cult leader is accused of inciting his followers to starve themselves to death in order to prepare for the end of the world and “meet Jesus”. He faces numerous charges including terrorism, murder and child cruelty along with dozens of co-defendants.

Jumaisi was detained in the early hours of July 15 near a Nairobi bar where he had been watching the Euro 2024 football final. The head of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Moha­med Amin, said after his arrest that Jumaisi had confessed to murdering 42 women over a two-year period from 2022 and that his wife had been his first victim.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2024