The story of a Chinese national caught on camera whipping a Kenyan employee at Chez Wou restaurant in Kileleshwa for allegedly reporting late has now taken a new turn after other workers came out saying it was a prank taken out of context.
The employees claimed the victim, Simon Oseko, had asked to be whipped in order to be given money by the Chinese national to buy muguka, a local stimulant.
A Kenyan employee and supervisor at the restaurant, Dennis Omogah, who talked to NTV on Monday, February 10, said Oseko was only trying to use the video clip to extort the company and when it failed he went to the media.
"He wanted money to go buy muguka, the Chinese chef told him to go and ask for money from the counter so that its deducted from his end month salary, he did not want to do that, he instead told him to beat him and then give him the money," claimed Omogah.
In the media reports, Oseko had said he had endured punishment and suffering at the hands of their Chinese boss for six months but documents seen by NTV indicated he had only worked there for three months and was on probation.
He had only been late to work once and had taken a day off in December 2019 to attend his father's funeral.
In his court documents, Oseko is seeking compensation for unfair dismissal and for violation of his human rights.
However, according to the management, Oseko was only dismissed in February 2 after he was captured on CCTV cameras stealing from the restaurant coffers.
"His lawyers wrote to the restaurant asking for KSh 800,000 compensation, but we were wondering why compensate him all that money, even the chef who was beating him has said that was just a play they had and we knew he was trying to manipulate the management," said Omogah.
Following public uproar after the video of the Chinese national beating Oseko went viral on Sunday, February 9, detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) based at Kilimani Police Station arrested four employees at the restaurant.
The alleged perpetrator, Deng Hailan, was arrested alongside two other chefs, Chang Yueping and Ou Qiang and Yu Ling, who works as a cashier.
The four were presented before a court in Milimani where the prosecution sought to hold them for 21 more days pending investigations into the matter.
Among other charges they faced included working at the restaurant without valid documents.
The defense team strongly opposed the application arguing the charges against the accused were not long enough to warranty such a long detention.
The court will rule on the prosecution's request on Tuesday, February 11.