A burial in Shamata, Nyandarua County, turned into a street protest on Wednesday when mourners stopped the ceremony and carried the casket of a man killed last week to the local police station, demanding answers over his death.

Hundreds of residents, some waving placards and twigs and chanting as they walked, marched to Shamata Police Station. A group at the front carried a brown casket, reportedly with the body inside, in what they said was a bid to force authorities to act on the killing of the man, identified only as Gashema.

'Justice must be served'

"We have come here today to picket regarding the issue of one Gashema who was murdered in cold blood last week, and all we're asking the government is that justice must be served," one of the protesters said.

Residents also complained about a rise in crime in the area and accused security agencies of not doing enough to protect them.

The crowd stayed outside the station for several hours as they pressed officers for progress on the investigation. Police eventually calmed the situation, and the protest ended without reports of violence.

Police say four suspects identified

A senior officer at Shamata Police Station told the crowd that investigations had already started and that police had leads on four suspects.

"Investigations into this matter have already begun, and we have leads to four suspects. What we now want is community volunteers so that we can identify the suspects and move to the next stage of our investigations," the officer said.

Police plan to pick volunteers from the community to help identify the four. No arrests had been announced by Wednesday evening, and the suspects have not been named. Anyone arrested will be presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

The mourners were asked to return the body to the mortuary as the investigation continues. It was not clear when the burial would be rescheduled.

A familiar form of protest

Carrying coffins to police stations or government offices has become a common way for grieving communities in Kenya to draw attention to killings they feel are not being taken seriously. In March, youths stormed Nairobi's City Mortuary demanding the body of a friend who died in floods, only to find the coffin they grabbed was empty.

For Shamata residents, the question now is how quickly police can turn their four leads into arrests, and whether the wider concerns about insecurity in the area will be addressed.

Photos: Kenyans.co.ke (video screengrabs of the Shamata protest). Thumbnail design: HAMASTA MEDIA.