Police in Kisumu are holding two suspects amid growing complaints of defilement by residents.
The two suspects, both men aged 30 and 28, were being detained at the Kondele police station following their separate arrests on Sunday.
The first suspect is accused of having repeatedly defiled three minors aged 13, 14 and 17 within Manyatta estate.
The other man was arrested after he allegedly defiled a 12-year-old Standard 5 girl.
The girl's mother said her daughter was kidnapped on Sunday evening and defiled overnight by their neighbour. She reported the girl missing at Kondele police station.
The woman said the neighbour locked the girl in his house. “We searched everywhere and did not find her. On Monday afternoon, the man called me, saying my daughter was back in the house. I suspect that was the time he released her," the woman said.
She said she rushed the girl to hospital where tests showed she had been defiled.
Child protection activists and residents have raised concern over rising cases of defilement and rape in Kisumu. Manyatta resident Mary Achieng said her daughters were no longer safe even in their own compounds "because the perpetrators are everywhere trying to lure them."
“This is a matter that needs to be looked into before it gets out of hands. Our daughters need to feel safe where they stay," Achieng said.
Nyalenda resident Mark Wanyonyii asked police to urgently look into the matter.
“It can't take a week without a report that a child has been defiled. This matter ought to be addressed before things get out of hands," Wanyonyi said.
Last year, civil society organisations said 1,208 cases of child defilement were reported in Kisumu.
The organisations, Transform Empowerment for Action Initiative and Haki Africa, said they were disappointed with the deteriorating state of human rights.
Team official Maureen Kemunto said cases of defilement were on the rise with even the disabled targeted. At least five disabled children were defiled last year, she said.
The report covered the period between September 2017 and April 2018.
Kemunto said identification of the perpetrators, lack of confidentiality in handling cases, loss of files and poor response to distress calls by police were among factors hampering the fight against defilement and rape.
In January last year, Ang’onga assistant chief Caleb Oyende was charged before a Maseno court with attempted defilement. He was accused of committing the offence against a 15-year-old girl.
In February, another chief was sentenced to 20 years in prison for repeatedly defiling a 14-year-old girl in Seme subcounty.
Michale Odhiambo Oluoch of South West Seme committed the offence on June 9, 2015 at Kogundo village. The girl is an orphan.
In December, Bishop Joseph Agutu was sentenced to 75 years in prison for defiling three minors he was living with at an orphanage. He infected one of the girls with HIV. Prosecutors said Agutu had promised the minors that he would sponsor their education. Two were aged 15 and the other 14.
Edited by Peter Obuya
