Nairobi Court Detains Chinese National Videotaped Caning Kenyan Restaurant Worker

Four Chinese nationals who were arrested on Sunday after a video showing one of them caning a Kenyan man at a Nairobi restaurant went viral on social media were on Monday arraigned in court.

Appearing before Milimani Law Courts, the suspects were charged with assault and causing actual bodily harm. The prosecution sought to have the four detained for 21 days to allow the completion of investigations into the incident.

But the defense team opposed the prosecution’s application arguing that the charges against the accused persons were not serious enough to warrant such a long investigation period.

“The charges are not serious to warrant 21 days… The prosecution doesn’t need the 21 days to investigate,” the defense submitted.

The court ordered the four to remain in custody for three more days pending a ruling on their bail application.

49-year-old Deng Hailan, who was videotaped whipping the Kenyan waiter at Chez Wou Restaurant in Kileleshwa, Nairobi for allegedly reporting late to work, was arrested after detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) raided the eatery on Sunday morning.

In a statement posted on Twitter, the DCI said the detectives also discovered that Hailan, who works at the hotel as a chef, does not have a work permit.

He was arrested alongside three other Chinese nationals; Chang Yueping, Ou Qiang and Yu Ling. The DCI said Yueping and Qiang, who are both chefs at the restaurant, were holding expired visas while Yu Ling, a cashier, was holding a visitor’s visa but without a work permit.

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