A Nairobi family is demanding justice after their 28-year-old son, Ahmed Amir, reportedly died following an alleged assault at a madrassa in Makindu, Makueni County, on September 3.
Ahmed had travelled to the religious institution seeking spiritual guidance. What was meant to be a journey of personal and religious growth ended in tragedy when, on the morning of September 4, the family received a call informing them he had died.
Madrassa authorities allegedly told the family that Ahmed had succumbed to flu. The family flatly rejected this explanation after viewing his body.
“They told us on Friday, September 4 morning that he was dead. Now tell me what kind of flu comes with burns on the body and wounds on the body, including the head,” a family member said.
A witness who saw the body described the extent of the injuries as deeply disturbing.
“The police came and covered the body, but you could clearly see the injuries he had sustained. His arm was seemed to be like twice the size of normal. He had burnt tissue on his hand and his fingers. Then his legs, it’s like they really tortured him before he passed away,” the witness recounted.
An autopsy report appeared to support the family’s fears, concluding that the deceased had sustained widespread trauma consistent with systemic torture.
Family Calls for Arrest and Closure
The case has drawn the attention of human rights organisations, who are pushing for the immediate arrest of the sheikh linked to the incident and the closure of the facility pending a full investigation.
Vocal Africa CEO Hussein Khalid said witnesses at the institution were living in fear, making any meaningful inquiry impossible while the facility remained operational.
“From what we understand, the witnesses who are there are living in fear and no investigations can be undertaken if those people who are there are still within that institution. So we are calling for the immediate shutdown of that institution to pave way for investigations, and at the same time the leader, the sheikh of that institution, should be arrested,” Khalid stated.
A family member also alleged that Ahmed was not the first person to die under unclear circumstances at the same facility.
“Ahmed is not the first one to be killed here, many others have also lost their lives here, but I believe Ahmed will be the last; this will not just go away like that,” they said.
Alarming reports of abuse at Islamic correction and rehabilitation centres in Kenya are not new, but the death of Ahmed Amir has drawn fresh scrutiny to the Makindu facility and raised questions about accountability at such institutions.
