A man has been arrested for allegedly defiling and killing a five-year-old nursery school girl in Mathioya sub-county, Murang'a county.
In an occurrence that has shocked residents of Kirembu village, the suspect, 37, was arrested after the minor's body was found dumped in a thicket.
The girl went missing on Wednesday as she went home from school only for her body to be found today.
Her grandmother who lived with her, however, did not report her disappearance to the police until Friday morning.
Villagers launched a search with the assistance of the police after which the girl's body was recovered dumped near her home.
According to area deputy county commissioner Jamleck Mbuba, the suspect was arrested after school children said he picked the girl from school.
Mbuba said the girl's legs and hands had been folded back when she was found indicating that she may have been defiled before being murdered.
Mbuba also confirmed that the grandmother has also been arrested over her failure to report the girl's disappearance in time.
"We are interrogating her on why she failed to report the issue immediately the girl went missing for police to take action," he said.
The girl's schoolmates, he said, positively identified the suspect and he will be arraigned in court once investigations are complete.
He said the girl's mother works in Nairobi and had left her the grandmother's care.
However, Murang’a county commissioner John Elung’ata has raised alarm over increased cases of killing of minors in the county.
Four minors have been murdered in a period of three months, all aged between 4 and 7 years and their bodies mutilated.
Elungata said that it is abnormal that all the children were unaccompanied by adults when they met their deaths and accused their parents of negligence.
"How can a five years old child go to school unaccompanied by an adult?," Elungata wondered saying he reads mischief in the murders.
The county commissioner expressed.concerns that parents may be plotting the murder of their children to evade responsibility, noting that police officers are investigating the matters keenly.
Last week, a 5-year old boy was murdered and his eyes and tongue gorged out, and the body dumped near a dam in Gatanga.
Early this month, a 9 years old standard three girl went missing on her way home and her body found two days later dumped half a kilometre from her home in Kigumo.