Girl, 9, rescued in Embu after forced FGM, mum arrested

Police in Embu have rescued a nine-year-old girl who was forcefully circumcised and arrested her mother.

The girl’s mother is alleged to have been taking care of the girl after undergoing the cut last Friday.

The arrest was made after residents of Kaigi village informed their chief that the girl had been subjected to Female Genital Mutilation.

Authorities say the minor was cut in nearby Kirinyaga county and sent to stay with her grandmother in Embu. It was believed she was being hidden after the unlawful act.

FGM is the partial or total removal of external genitalia or other injuries to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. It is mostly carried out to girls of 15 years and below.

Embu North deputy county commissioner William Oduor said they arrested the mother and handed her to Kirinyaga police where the act is believed to have taken place.

The commissioner spoke to the media at his office on Monday. 

“The government will not allow the act because that’s going against the law,” he said.

Oduor further said parents should be vigilant during this long holiday to avoid having their children going through the unlawful process.

Irene Wambogo, a women’s activist condemned the act saying this is a new era and people should abandon old norms and adopt change.

According to UNICEF, four million or one in five women and girls in Kenya have been subjected to FGM.

Also, an estimated 574,000 Kenyan girls are at risk of undergoing FGM between now and 2030 if urgent measures are not taken to prevent it.

All these risk the nation’s target of full eradication of FGM by the end of 2022.

(Edited by Bilha Makokha)