Umm Muhammed Umar

Two brothers in Kenya died after allegedly breaking a COVID-19 curfew. According to Africa News, family members say that 22-year-old Benson Njiru Ndwiga and 19-year-old Emmanuel Mutura Ndigwa were killed in police custody. The brothers had been studying engineering and law.

Last seen on the evening of August 1, the pair had been detained for contravening a 10pm coronavirus containment measures curfew.

Africa News reports that the brother’s bodies were found at a local morgue by family members. There are calls for the police to be held accountable and for the resignation of Kenya’s Interior Minister to resign over the incident. Kenya’s Independent Policing Oversight Authority, meanwhile, has opened an investigation into the deaths.

Human Rights Watch has raised concerns over an increase in police brutality and extrajudicial killings in Kenya.