Police in Thika are holding three suspects after four girls were subjected to female genital mutilation in Thika town.
The girls are aged between nine and 12 years
Police officers, who were acting on a tip-off from members of the public, raided the house a house in Majengo estate, where the girls were being hidden on Tuesday evening and rescued them. Two of the suspects are parents of two girls. The third one is their grandmother.
Thika subcounty police commander Beatrice Kiraguri and Biashara chief Simon Kamau led the raid. “The girls have confirmed that a traditional doctor performed the outlawed act on them in the house on Friday last week. They had been locked in the house under close watch of their parents, some of whom are in our custody,” Kiraguri said.
She said the girls were taken to Thika Level Five Hospital for proper treatment.
Kiraguri said police have launched investigations into the matter and they are trailing parents of the other two girls as well as the circumciser who resides in Kiandutu slums.
“Female genital mutilation is an offence and therefore we are hunting others involved in this illegality so that they can face the full wrath of the law,” she said.
She warned parents who intend to subject their daughters to FGM that the authorities will nab them and stern action will be taken against them. “The community has a role to play too to stem this vice completely. Everyone has a responsibility to ensure that they avail information to the authorities that will lead to the arrest of the perpetrators of the illegal acts as well as saving and securing girls in the society,” Kiraguri said.
She also called on Nyumba Kumi units and community policing to be vigilant and notify the authorities if such cases arise.
“The practice might have been going on but in high secrecy. This is the first case, but we need to be on high alert so that we can deter all those planning to perform the illegal practice. We must take care of our girls,” Kiraguri said.
Chief Kamau urged religious leaders to condemn the vice and lead in eradicating the outdated practice in the region. He was responding after a local claimed that his religion and tradition allowed their girls to undergo the rite.
The man, who castigated the police for arresting the three suspects, said he strictly follows his religion. He said he will have his daughters undergo FGM. “This practice has been there since time immemorial. Again my religion that comes first before the law allows us to conduct female genital mutilation,” he said.
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday last week warned that those practising FGM will be dealt with firmly.
He vowed to eradicate the practice by 2022, the same day the four girls underwent the illegal practice.
The President said FGM is an archaic cultural practice that assaults the well-being of individuals and society.
“FGM is a retrogressive practice whose continued existence in our country in actual fact assaults our individual and our national consciousness,” he said.
