Two men have been arrested in connection with separate incidents of sexual assault of children in Kirinyaga county.
Police in Kianyaga arrested a 38-year-old man suspected of defiling and killing a girl aged four.
Peter Muchiri was arrested after police were informed by the public that he was the suspect.
Kirinyaga East deputy police boss Patrick Nyaang said the suspect is alleged to have ambushed the nursery school learner on Monday while she was heading home from school in the company of her school mates.
Muchiri allegedly asked the pupils to accompany him to his home to pick some items. Only the little girl agreed to go with him.
She was found on Wednesday defiled and dead in a thicket within the area.
"We had gone to console the family at their home in Kimunye when we received word of the suspect's presence in the area from members of the public. We acted swiftly and arrested him after which we placed him in our custody," Nyaanga said.
The body of the deceased was transferred at Kibugi mortuary as further investigations into the murder continued. The officer advised parents to closely monitor their school-going children so as to protect them from morally decayed individuals.
Moreover, he urged parents to equip their children with basic guidelines and bring them up with strong principles that will help secure from such situations.
"In as much as nothing justifies the death of the young girl, let parents teach their children not to accept gifts or pleasantries from strangers as that can put their lives at risk," Nyaanga said.
Meanwhile, a 51-year-old man from Kiamutugu, Gichugu, was on Friday arrested after he allegedly defiled a 14-year-old girl.
Joseph Muthike Murage is suspected to have committed the act on August 2 at Wakaburu village in Gichugu. He is now locked up at the Kianyaga police station awaiting to be arraigned.
"Today this station arrested one Joseph Muthike Murage, a Kikuyu man aged 51 years who was reported to this station for an allegation of defiling a Kikuyu minor aged 14 years from Wakaburu village, Thirikwa sub-location, about 4km east of the station,” the police report reads.
The two suspects were arrested in the wake of the government's stern warning to culprits defiling school girls in the county.
Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho directed county commissioner Jim Njoka to see to it that criminals destroying girls' lives are brought to book.
Speaking on Friday in Ngaaru Girls Secondary School in Kirinyaga Central, the PS also sounded a strict warning to intruders sneaking into schools to peddle hard drugs to students.
He at the same time urged students to be responsible and utilize their time in school to study so that they could become productive members of the society.
Edited by Henry Makori
