Police seek to identify man's body found in Loitoktok forest

Police officers from Loitoktok, Kajiado County, are seeking to identify the body of a man which has been found in a local forest.

According to Loitoktok Police Commander Kipruto Ruto, the body of a middle-aged man was discovered Monday around 4pm in Kilombero Forest, which is at the foot of Mt Kilimanjaro.

The gruesome find was made by herders. The body was reportedly dumped into the valley of a dry seasonal river.

The area is a notorious dumping site for murder victims.

The police boss said the body was naked, though the man’s clothes — a track suit and a Maasai shuka — were found at the edge of the valley.

There were visible signs of struggle and torture on the victim’s body, he added.

No documents

No identification documents were recovered near the man’s body.

"It is evident that the victim was killed elsewhere and the body dumped in the valley. The body has scars indicating torture before the death. He possibly died a painful death,” Mr Ruto said.

The body was moved to Loitokitok Sub-County Hospital mortuary awaiting identification after police officers collected fingerprints.

"We are reaching out to families that have lost their loved ones to come for identification as we wait for fingerprints processing,” said the police boss who added that they could not speculate on the identity of the dead man.