Dozens of women on Wednesday staged street demonstrations to protest over the recent defilement and subsequent killing of a grade two girl in Taita Taveta County.
The angry women disrupted traffic flow in the busy Wundanyi town and its environs as they protested and decried the high incidences of defilement, incest, and other sexual gender-based violence (GBVs) in the region.
Speaking after presenting a petition to the Taita Deputy County Commissioner’s offices, Wundanyi police station, Wundanyi law courts, county gender executive and the assembly chambers yesterday vowed to resist any attempt to cover up the incident.
The women expressed their deepest sorrow and outrage for the sexual abuse meted out against the minor and demanded immediate action.
According to the police and women leaders, the victim was on June 8th this year defiled and brutally murdered before her body was dumped in the nearby fish pond at Kese village in Taita Sub County, an apparent attempt to disguise the crime as a drowning incident.
Area Deputy County Commissioner Jane Kangati confirmed that the suspect was apprehended and arraigned in Voi Law Courts on Wednesday.
Led by the County National Government Affirmative Action Fund (Ngaaf) County Coordinator Dorine Ngeti, the woman said the victim was reported missing only for her body to be discovered in the fish pond under suspicious circumstances.
“This heinous act not only robbed a child of her innocence and life, but it also left the family, the school, and the entire community in shock and mourning.
Worse still, it instils fear in parents and children alike and undermines the safety and dignity of girls in our community,” stated Ms Ngeti yesterday.
They at the same time called for the establishment of a special county task force on child protection and GBVs, including school-based safety policies.
Ngeti petitioned the assembly to hold a special county assembly session to address the rising cases of child abuse and GBVs in the region.
"The life of the little girl lost must not be in vain. Herr story should ignite a stronger fight against child abuse, defilement, incest and femicide in Kenya,” added Ngeti.
The incident comes as sexual gender-based violence continues to become the latest form of crime in the region.
Commissioner Josephine Onunga declared that GBV cases are still prevalent in the region despite existing laws, policies, ongoing massive sensitisation forums and campaigns against the vice, which she described as grave.
The administrator noted that the county is one of the leading counties in GBV incidences and has, in the last year, reported a total of 157 cases.
Onunga told the public meeting that GBV cases have been compounded by the widespread sale and consumption of illicit brews like Pasha and Mbangara, among other counterfeit brews and drugs.
