Father of 6-month-old girl subjected to FGM to remain in custody

A couple who subjected their six-month-old daughter to female genital mutilation in Leparua, Isiolo North, last week had rushed her to a local hospital with a severe fever before she was sent to Isiolo Referral Hospital, where health workers discovered that she had been “cut”.

A referral letter from Leparua Medical Centre submitted in court shows that the child was taken to the facility with a fever, cough and breathing difficulties and asked the receiving facility to “put pressure on FGM”.

Had the health workers at Isiolo Referral who discovered that the child had pneumonia not probed the mother further, they would not have found out the kind of pain the victim was undergoing.

Ms Linda Kiruki, a clinical officer at Isiolo Referral who handled the case, said the child had a deep wound and her genitals were covered with tea leaves to ostensibly reduce bleeding.

Appearing before Isiolo Chief Magistrate Lucy Mutai, Ms Kiruki said the child’s clitoris had been cut and that the labia majora had a deep wound that showed the illegal procedure was carried out with a blunt object.

“The child cried uncontrollably while we assessed the wound. The severe fever was due to infections and the injuries and she took some time before the temperatures subsided,” she told the court.

Medics resolved to check the child after her mother allegedly confessed that they had subjected their daughter to the cut the previous day, on November 6.

“The child had also lost a lot of blood. She is still admitted at the hospital,” Ms Kiruki said.

The child’s father, Dickson Kinyaga, was last Wednesday charged with aiding and abetting the outlawed practice, contrary to Section 20 (b) of the Prohibition of FGM Act 2011.

Magistrate Mutai ordered that the 28-year-old man be detained until November 24, when the hearing of the case will continue.

Prosecutors sought more time to, among other things, get a full medical report on the child from Isiolo Referral.

The police previously indicated that the girl’s mother would be charged after the girl recovers fully.

FGM is the partial or total removal of clitoral organs, narrowing of the vaginal opening by use of a seal or even piercing the genitalia.

It is believed that girls who have undergone the outlawed but ingrained practice attract higher bride price and that this is a source of pride for a family, while those who shun the procedure are perceived as outcasts and “unclean”.

A 2020 Unicef report shows that at least four million girls and women have undergone the cut in Kenya. More than 200 million in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia have endured the procedure, according to the World Health Organisation.

The procedure exposes girls to severe bleeding, urinary problems, infections, menstrual issues and complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn death.

In Kenya, it is most prevalent in the Somali, Samburu and Maasai communities, according to a 2014 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) report.