• Ptolelio invited 32 men to his home in Korkou to plan the abduction.
• The men struck at 3am, beat the girl's mother unconscious and escaped with her daughter.
Image: /FILE
A 13-year-old girl has been missing for more than a month after 32 men abducted her from home in West Pokot.
Her mother fears she could be raped and forced into early marriage.
The girl from Kaptolomwo village in Kasei, West Pokot, is scheduled to sit her KCPE exams this year. She is Index 2 in her class.
A family member said her dream was to complete her studies and later help her mother raise the younger siblings.
But on the evening of April 26, a middle-aged man named Musa Ptolelio invited 32 men to his home in Korkou, Kasei ward.
In an interview with the Star yesterday, a source who sought anonymity said Ptolelio hosted the team in one of the houses of one of his two wives.
He slaughtered a goat for them.
“The ceremony was also attended by boda boda riders from the locality. It was in preparation and planning for the abduction of the girl.”
“The men devised a plan, they delegated roles. Some men were tasked with ensuring there was no obstruction or interference,” the source said.
Their role was to ensure that when they arrive in the girl’s village, they would lock all the neighbours' doors, including those of the National Police Reservists, from outside.
Those who owned boda bodas were to aid in transportation. At around 3am, about 10 men arrived at the girl's home. The girl shares the grass-thatched house with her mother and siblings. The family was asleep.
They called her mother, who asked what they wanted. One man told the girl’s mother they were looking for a woman who had run away from her husband.
They were told no visitor had come to the home. The men demanded she open the door for them to confirm the woman wasn't there.
The man insisted they were told the woman was hiding in her house. They threatened to break down the door if she failed to open it.
The mother asked one of the girls to open the door to prove to the men that she was not hiding anyone.
“To her, there was nothing to be scared of as the men spoke the local dialect, and they told her the village they had come from.
One of the girls who was sleeping on the floor stood up, opened the door, and went back to sleep,” the source told the star.
The men walked in without hesitating. The mother asked them to have a look around, assuring them that the children sleeping on the floor were hers. She even asked them to use their torches and confirm she was telling the truth. The men checked every face.
When they got to the 13-year-old girl, they roughed her up. The startled girl started to scream. Her mother jumped from the bed and tried to block the door.
She intercepted the men and held onto her daughter. The girl struggled to escape.
When the men sensed there would be a struggle that could delay or even thwart their mission, they started beating the mother.
They used a walking stick to strike her face, head and her entire body. She did not give up and continued holding onto her daughter. One man told the others to kick her in the stomach. The kicks sent her down unconscious.
The girl was also beaten and forcibly carried shoulder-high to a motorbike nearby.
Since then, the girl's whereabouts are not known. Authorities have been informed and have taken some steps to rescue her.
The following morning, the chiefs went to the home of Ptolelio, but he wasn’t in. After a day, the chiefs were informed that the girl had been taken to the border in Uganda, where Ptolelio had another home, cattle and family members.
“We brought it up with the county commissioner, who instructed the DC to accompany the chiefs on the rescue mission to the village in Uganda,” the source said.
The team went to the village, where the man was thought to be hiding the girl, but they did not find her.
“From the look of things, it seems that’s the end of this search from the authority’s side and nobody seems to be prioritising the rescue. Everyone has gone silent on it either, having surrendered or just not really serious about it," the source said.
“Of the 32 men, not one arrest has been made, despite these men being known among the chiefs and the local authorities,” the source said.
The only information the source got from the area chief, the inspector of the AP and from the assistant county commissioner’s office was that residents were very secretive and would not share any information.
Yesterday, the county commissioner and his deputy did not answer calls and text messages from the star.
The girl's mother is hoping her daughter will be rescued, so she can continue with her education.
The mother is reportedly unwell and unable to lift anything with her right hand, which she suspects is broken. Her face is bruised.
The right side of her chest hurts but she has no money for treatment.
She was forced to sell her only cow to facilitate a rescue team.
Wherever she is, her mother fears that she might be subjected to abuse, including rape.
June 16, will be the Day of the African child. West Pokot will be hosting the National Day of the African Child celebration this year.
This year’s theme is Humanitarian Action in Africa-Children's Rights First.