Kenya police to detain for 30 days a man arrested after discovery of dismembered bodies of women

NAIROBI, Kenya — A court in Kenya has allowed police to detain for 30 days a man suspected of killing and dismembering women then dumping them in a flooded quarry, as investigations continue.

Collins Jumaisi Khalusha, 33, appeared in Makadara court on Tuesday, accompanied by his lawyer, who had protested an application by the police to detain Khalusha further.

Police have since Friday been retrieving the dismembered bodies of women from a quarry located near the suspect’s house, where police recovered phones, identity cards and a machete, among other items.

By Tuesday, 10 bodies and various body parts had been removed from the quarry. Two families have positively identified their kin but are awaiting DNA analysis.

The head of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Mohamed Amin, on Monday said the suspect confessed to killing 42 women, including his wife, since 2022. They gave no evidence to support his claim.

Police said the bodies were discovered after relatives of one missing woman claimed to have had a dream in which she directed them to search the quarry. The relatives asked a local diver to help, and he discovered the bodies wrapped in sacks.

Acting police inspector general Douglas Kanja said officers in a nearby police station had been transferred to make way for investigations. Locals had accused police of negligence due to the proximity of the quarry and the unresolved missing persons cases filed there.

A statement signed by human rights groups over the weekend urged Kenya’s security agencies to “to expedite investigations into all reports of enforced disappearances.” There were initial concerns that the bodies could be linked to abductions and arrests of young people during recent anti-government protests.