Kwale Police officers arrest the parents of a 12-year-old girl whom they suspect to be defiled and impregnated by a close relative who later disappeared.
Matuga Deputy County Commissioner Alexander Mativo said the parents were arrested to help police with undergoing investigations.
Commissioner Mativo said the minor, a pupil at a local primary school, is four months pregnant, adding she did not report back to school in January when learning resumed after a long break caused by the virus outbreak.
He added that the victim was discovered in the recently launched back to school operation that seeks to account for all students and ensure they resume physical learning.
Addressing the press in Kwale town on Monday, February 15, Mativo said they suspect the minor was defiled by a close relative whom the parents decided to mute.
“We have to verify the information we are receiving because some say a relative eloped with the minor with the full knowledge of her parents,” Mativo said.
Mr Mativo added that the minor was taken to Kwale County Referral Hospital where medical examinations confirmed she was pregnant.
Mativo criticised the rise in lewdness cases, saying since the year began his office had received 10 cases.
However, the number could be much higher as residents tend to fail to report such cases to authorities.
“It is heartbreaking that parents are colluding with the culprits to deny their daughters justice. In some instances, old men sleep with children, and instead of reporting the matter to the police, parents and guardians lie that the girls have moved to other schools yet they remain at home waiting to give birth,” he said.
He accused parents and guardians of hiding defilement and gender-based violence in the region.
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