On 6 February 2019, 37-year-old Caroline Mwatha Ochieng’, a Kenyan human rights activist and founder of the Dandora Community Center (which investigates and documents cases of police killings in Dandora), went missing. [1] Her body was found in Nairobi's City mortuary on 12 February where it had been registered under a different name. Police reports established that she had died on 7 February. [2] [3] A post-mortem examination determined that she died due to exsanguination. The bleeding was caused by a rupture at the rear of her uterus, reportedly as the result of an unsafe abortion. The remains of a male fetus were still in the womb, minus a hand. [4]
Her father and husband told reporters that they did not believe police reports, since they were unaware that she had been pregnant. [5] Patrick Gathara of The Washington Post noted skepticism was warranted, since police had been involved with covering up the murders of human rights defenders in the past. [6] A second, independent autopsy confirmed the cause of death. [7] Amnesty International Kenya stated: "If Mwatha was not killed by State execution, she was killed by a system that allows crude abortion clinics to exist for its failure to provide safe abortion services." [8]
Memorial services were held on 21 February at Uhuru Park's Freedom Corner. They were attended by Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, politician Martha Karua and Nairobi Women Representative Esther Passaris. [8] A Requiem Mass was refused by the Catholic Church because of its opposition to abortion. [9] The funeral was on 23 February in Asembo Bay, Siaya County near her family's home. [10] She is survived by her two children and a husband. [8]
Eight people have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the abortion, which is illegal in Kenya unless the mother's life is at risk. [7] The clinic where the procedure was performed was not licensed to operate. [3]
hold requiem Mass
On 6 February 2019, 37-year-old Caroline Mwatha Ochieng’, a Kenyan human rights activist and founder of the Dandora Community Center (which investigates and documents cases of police killings in Dandora), went missing. [1] Her body was found in Nairobi's City mortuary on 12 February where it had been registered under a different name. Police reports established that she had died on 7 February. [2] [3] A post-mortem examination determined that she died due to exsanguination. The bleeding was caused by a rupture at the rear of her uterus, reportedly as the result of an unsafe abortion. The remains of a male fetus were still in the womb, minus a hand. [4]
Her father and husband told reporters that they did not believe police reports, since they were unaware that she had been pregnant. [5] Patrick Gathara of The Washington Post noted skepticism was warranted, since police had been involved with covering up the murders of human rights defenders in the past. [6] A second, independent autopsy confirmed the cause of death. [7] Amnesty International Kenya stated: "If Mwatha was not killed by State execution, she was killed by a system that allows crude abortion clinics to exist for its failure to provide safe abortion services." [8]
Memorial services were held on 21 February at Uhuru Park's Freedom Corner. They were attended by Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, politician Martha Karua and Nairobi Women Representative Esther Passaris. [8] A Requiem Mass was refused by the Catholic Church because of its opposition to abortion. [9] The funeral was on 23 February in Asembo Bay, Siaya County near her family's home. [10] She is survived by her two children and a husband. [8]
Eight people have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the abortion, which is illegal in Kenya unless the mother's life is at risk. [7] The clinic where the procedure was performed was not licensed to operate. [3]
hold requiem Mass