A police officer accused of defiling a girl in a Kijipwa Police station cell is yet to be arrested.
It was a double tragedy for the 14-year-old girl after the officer allegedly raped her on September 24. She was at the station to seek justice after she was defiled by another man. The first suspect was nabbed.
A group of Kilifi women plan protests to demand the officer’s arrest.
On Tuesday, Kilifi woman representative Getrude Mbeyu and Shimo la Tewa MCA Sammy Ndago warned the police against protecting a rape suspect. Mbeyu expressed concern that the officer is still free a month after the crime was reported.
“I’ll personally go to that station to make sure the officer is arrested. The child went there to seek justice and instead an officer defiled her. This is wrong and the police must take action,” she said.
Ndago said the officer is enjoying protection from his colleagues.
“If it was a leader or any other person, several police Land Cruisers would have surrounded his home the very day the act was committed. But because he is a police officer, he is walking free,” he said.
But Kilifi county police commander Fredrick Ochieng’ dismissed claims they are protecting the officer. He said action has been taken and they are waiting for DNA results for prosecution to begin.
“The child was taken to the police as a victim in need of protection. Another man, who was arrested, had defiled her. When she was taken to the courts, she told the magistrate she had also been defiled by a police officer,” he said.
“The matter was brought to our attention and we organised an identification parade for all officers who were on duty that night. The exercise was to be conducted on September 26, but one of the officers was absent, so we could not do it.”
Ochieng’ said the officer absented himself from work soon after the reports came out. He resurfaced eight days later and was identified by the victim.
“We organised another identification parade immediately he returned and the minor identified him. We took DNA samples from both the girl and the officer. We are currently waiting for the results from the Government Chemist,” he said.
The commander said they have already taken disciplinary measures against the officer for skipping work.
“We are waiting for the results so we forward the file to the DPP for guidance. We took action from the day the matter was brought to our attention. We opened an inquiry file and if the DPP will recommend prosecution, then the case will proceed to court,” Ochieng’ said.