• Trouble started when her husband joined a cult and demanded she undergoes the cut. He came home on June 9 with 30 men who started to cut her.
• One man grabbed her and choked her as another tore off her clothes. Yet another man took a needle and started pricking her private parts.
Image: ALICE WAITHERA
It was late and her husband and about 30 men took part in a ceremony and sacrificed a goat outside her Murang'a house.
The 38-year-old woman was terrified.
Her husband had threatened to subject her to female genital mutilation, saying he couldn't live with an uncut woman. He said to save the marriage, she had to undergo the cut.
The woman said problems in the marriage started when her husband joined a cult and insisted on FGM. The men would do it with needles and their fingernails.
He threatened to have their three daughters circumcised. The eldest is a Class 6 pupil, while the youngest is yet to join pre-primary.
“He told me he would start with me and then circumcise my daughters,” she said.
She reported to her assistant chief who allegedly dismissed her.
On June 9, her husband and a large group of men camped outside their home at night.
At 11 pm, he called her to open the house, he got in accompanied by the crowd. They had come to circumcise her.
One man grabbed her and choked her, while another tore off her clothes. Yet another man took a needle and started pricking her private parts. They said they would complete the circumcision using their fingernails.
Terrified and in agony, the woman started screaming, waking her two daughters, who also screamed for help.
This forced the men to flee, leaving her bleeding.
The following morning, the woman reported at Kandara police station before going home to nurse her injuries.
However, when night fell, her husband returned with several men to complete their mission.
They however changed the plan and instead removed two iron sheets from the roof of her house.
She said this was meant to intimidate her into allowing them to complete the circumcision process.
She panicked and fled, taking her children with her.
The woman sought refuge from Murang’a Woman Representative Sabina Chege who rented a house for her in another town.
She says she sustained wounds that left her in agony. Answering a call of nature was a nightmare.
“I hope to get justice for what was done to me and the trauma that my children have gone through. I don’t know if he will carry out his threats to do the same to my children,” she said.
Her husband was arrested and taken to Kandara law courts before he was released on bond.
Soon after, she claimed unknown people broke a window in her rented home and that she is terrified. She reported the matter to Kandara police station.
She says feeding her children has now become a challenge, as moving around is painful.
“I married my husband 12 years ago. I want him punished together with his accomplices,” she said.
Her medical report indicates she was bleeding from her private parts when she sought treatment.
Chege said when she heard about her predicament, she took her to hospital and catered for her bills. The woman is traumatised and depressed.
“We appreciate traditions, but we cannot be taken back to retrogressive traditions. Female genital mutilation is unacceptable,” she said.
She challenged elders to ensure they provide guidance on the kind of traditions that are acceptable as they encourage members of the community to embrace culture.
“Most likely, there are some people who are taking advantage to teach the wrong things. Men held her down and cut her. That is unacceptable,” she said, vowing to mobilise women to rise up against such activities.
“You cannot marry a woman knowing her status and then suddenly say you cannot live with her if she is uncircumcised. Those are not traditions, those are demons and we will not allow them in our community,” she added.
She encouraged women who have gone through similar ordeals to speak out so that action can be taken against organisations behind it. The cults, she said, should be banned.
Chege said she would meet county security officers over the matter, citing claims that FGM has become rife in many counties in the Central region as traditions take hold.
Many of the victims are said to approach cults after experiencing chronic illnesses, marital problems, or when their children become too problematic.
They are then lured into female circumcision with the promise that their woes are caused by their failure to follow the traditions of their forefathers.
County commissioner Francis Ndunga said investigations are ongoing and that the DCI has been put in charge.
A section of women from the county have appealed to the Ministry of Interior to intervene and stop injustices against women.
“We want the ministry to rally all national government administration officers and be seen to act against these vices,” Mercy Kimwe, a former Murang’a town mayor, said.
Kimwe called on women to resist such practices that hinder human development and report such incidents promptly.
She said if not urgently stopped, FGM will endanger women in the region.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
Image: ALICE WAITHERA