• The incident occurred on Friday, March 4, but the matter came to the limelight on Monday, March 7.
• The woman said she stopped a few meters ahead to attend to the scene but a group of other operators mopped her and tried to rob her.
Image: THE STAR
Police in Nairobi are hunting down for a group of bodaboda operators who were captured on video molesting a female motorist on Nairobi's Wangari Maathai Road.
The incident occurred on Friday, March 4, but the matter came to the limelight on Monday, March 7, 2022, after the video was widely circulated on social media.
The young lady was driving along Thika Road.
She recorded her statement on Monday, March 7 at the Parklands police station and narrated her story.
She said the scuffle ensued after she hit one of the bodaboda riders who was crossing the road. The rider fractured one of his legs as a result of the accident.
The woman said she stopped a few meters ahead to attend to the scene but a group of other operators mopped her and tried to rob her.
This forced her to drive off but the operators pursued her for a few kilometres and blocked her way before they started assaulting her sexually.
One of the operators recorded the drama that ensued where the visibly terrified lady is heard screaming as the riders physically harass her to a point of stripping her naked in a bid to force her out of the vehicle.
She said she lost cash and other valuables in the ensuing melee and was only rescued from the hands of the rowdy group by traffic police who were alerted by other motorists who had witnessed the drama.
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— National Police Service-Kenya (@NPSOfficial_KE) March 7, 2022
The matter is under active investigations. We have since identified some of the perpetrators and they will be presented before a court of law upon completion of investigations.
Nairobi traffic boss Joshua Omukata said no arrest had been made so far but investigators are pursuing the matter.
He said police are reviewing CCTV footage on the section of the road to help identify those behind the harassment.
"She has recorded her statement which is now the basis of our investigation into this heinous act. We will get all these goons behind this molestation,” he said.
Omukata admitted that bodaboda operators remain a threat to security at large in the city and other parts of the country.
“Ongoing reforms will probably bring sanity to this industry,” he said, further confirming that they have been receiving dozens of complaints against the operators.
The officer warned the operators against taking the law into their own hands.
“In some incidents, their actions have turned fatal and others became thieves. Their days are numbered,” he said.
“If someone has hit you don’t take the law into your hands to beat him or her. That is a police matter and the law will take its course,” he said.
Kenyans shared screengrabs of people accused of harassment online asking that they be identified and punished.
Meanwhile, the Protective and Safety Association of Kenya (PROSAK) issued a statement on Monday condemning the incident and calling on the Inspector General of police Hillary Mutyambai to form a rapid response team to deal with rogue bodaboda riders.
Secretary-general Delano Kiilu said the harassment amounted to sexual assault and gender-based violence.
"The Constitutional rights of the lady were infringed and the incident appears to include sexual and gender-based violence against her person,"
"We call for the arrest and prosecution of those seen in the video clearly breaking the law in this particular incident," he added.