Nine schoolgirls accused of setting dormitory ablaze arrested

Weru Integrated Secondary School

A woman inspects burnt boxes and other items following a fire incident inside a boys’ dormitory at Weru Integrated Secondary School in Nyeri County on February 16, 2021. Nine students from Mugumo Girls High School in Kirinyaga County who are suspected to have set ablaze a dormitory have been arrested and locked up at Kianyaga Police Station.

Photo credit: Joseph Kanyi | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • The students are said to have used cigarette filters to light the fire which burnt the dormitory.
  • Authorities warn students engaging in unlawful activities that will not be spared.

Nine secondary school girls accused of setting a dormitory ablaze have been arrested by police in Kirinyaga County.

The students from Mugumo Girls High School were seized Friday morning and locked up at Kianyaga Police Station for interrogation.

They were said to have burnt a dormitory on Sunday last week, destroying property worth thousands of shillings.

Burnt dormitory

During the arson incident, beds, mattresses and others items were reduced to ashes.

However, county fire fighters and the police responded fast and managed to put out the fire which had thrown the learning institution management into panic.

According to Gichugu East Sub-county Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officer, Millicent Ochuka, the students used cigarette filters to light the fire which burnt the dormitory.

Arson charges

"We have been carrying out investigations since the incident was reported but finally we have arrested the suspects," she said.

Ms Ochuka said that the girls will soon be charged with arson adding that their parents were free to visit them at the police station.

She warned students engaging in unlawful activities that will not be spared.