A teenager who spent three months in police cells in Tharaka Nithi County after being sentenced to jail at Kamiti Youth Correction and Training Centre (YCTC) was on Tuesday evening transferred to the facility after the Nation media highlighted the matter.
The 19-year-old from Mwiria village in Maara sub-county was sentenced to four months imprisonment by a Chuka court on September 30, 2021, but could not be transported to the juvenile correction facility after police reportedly said they did not fuel for the journey.
Mr Fredrick Gitonga surrendered his son, a Form Three dropout, to police after realising that he had joined a village gang of drug users that engaged in theft and other criminal activities in the village.
Though Mr Gitonga wanted the boy to be reformed, he later regretted the decision for the suffering that his son underwent at the police station cells.
After being sentenced to four months in prison, the teenager was left to languish at the Ntumu police station in dire conditions.
Mr Gitonga said “Few hours after the story was published on, the officer commanding station (OCS) called and informed me that they were preparing to leave for Kamiti Youth Correction and Training Centre”
He said although his son should be about to complete the jail term, it’s a relief to have him out of the police cells where he slept on the floor and without food leaving him in bad health.
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