Vanessa Ogema, a 23-year-old who was captured by CCTV hurling insults at medical staff while disrupting the procedural flow of services at Port Victoria Hospital in Busia, was arrested on Sunday and is set to be arraigned in court today.
According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Ms. Ogema surrendered herself to the Busia police station on Sunday noon.
Ogema walked into the police station with her face covered up in a surgical mask and a bulky hoodie.
Ogema and an unidentified man were seen harassing hospital staff in the widely shared video that went viral on January 3.
The woman was heard yelling at the hospital employees and causing chaos by slamming a table and throwing files on the floor.
People in public were agitated by the situation and demanded that the woman be punished appropriately.
The Secretary General of the Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists Dentists Union (KMPDU), Davji Atellah, was one of the people who called for legal action.
“The safety of healthcare workers is threatened in such facilities. The perpetrators of this heinous act should be brought to justice urgently,” Atellah said.
On January 5, the incident compelled hospital employees to cease operations, resulting in patient families being forced to relocate their loved ones to alternative facilities.
In a statement to newsrooms, the Busia County government noted that hospital property, including an oxygen concentrator, was destroyed during the process.
