Cases of defilement in West Pokot County have of late increased a thing that has irked local activists fighting for the rights of the girl child in the area.
A case in point is a 37 years old father Johnstone Kipyego who defiled his seven years old daughter in Bondeni area, Kapenguria town.
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Emily Cheptoo is now nursing injuries in Kapenguria hospital after being defiled by her biological father on Saturday 11th of June 2016.
According to the child’s mother Susan Cheruto, she came home from her job and found her daughter bleeding.
“I told my daughter to wake up but she told me her father had defiled her. I rushed her to the hospital for treatment,” said Cheruto.
She said that the father came home when drunk and did the act on the young girl.
“He found the child playing with her friends and called her in the house at around 11. am where he defiled her,” said the devastated mother.
Cheptoo was rushed to hospital by her mother but at the time of this news going to the press the father had not been arrested despite the matter being reported.
The mother of three said that no action has been taken hence urged the concerned parties to intervene and ensure justice is done.
West Pokot county Police commandant Mathews Kuto said that efforts are being made to arrest the culprit.
Kuto said investigations are ongoing to determine the truth concerning the case.
Girl child rights activists in the area led by Miss. Domitila Chesang have threatened to hold the biggest demo ever seen in the county to compel the national and county government to come to the rescue of the girl child in the region.
“We are weary of the cases where children are defiled, raped and others forced to marry at an early age,” said Chesang.
“For a long time our people have been practicing archaic traditions that violate the rights of the girl child a thing we want to be ended.” said Chesang.
She said that there is need to protect the young girls hence said that no justice or cancelling is being done on defiled girls.
“We appeal to the authorities to arrest the culprits and take them to court for them to be jailed. We don’t want them in the society for young girls to be safe,” Chesang said.
She urged the Sub-County intelligence committee to be alert on cases that have been denied justice.
Members of the public and parents were also further advised to be alert and report the defilement cases once they occur so that the culprits are brought to book.
Chesang said that local parts of the West Pokot County have poor road network with many of the locals knowing the chief as the only form of government thus hindering a lot of cases from being processed in a court of law.
Chesang added that for now women have no contend with slow wheels of justice to help them fight what they call inhuman behavior saying the cases always take long to end keeping on endangering the lives of the victims.
She said sensitizing the locals on the ills of the vice and the repercussions the culprits will face in the hand of the law may help reduce the vice.
A spot check at Kapenguria law courts showed that defilement and rape cases were on the increase in the recent past with blame being pointed on the retrogressive culture and lack of information among the locals.