Tana woman arrested for torturing, burning daughter over dinner money
The teen being attended to at the Garsen Health Center in Tana River County.
For seven days, a 12-year-old girl was locked up in a chamber in Garsen by her mother and tortured.
Her mother had been burning her body with plastic bags for allegedly stealing Sh700 meant for dinner.
The girl said her mother starved her for days, and made sure she stayed away from the eyes of visitors in their house.
“She would make sure I stayed hidden in the next room if her friends were coming around and also make sure whenever she left no food was left for,” she says.
The girl says the torture happened every time her mother would get drunk.
At times she would be made to sleep on the cold floor if her mother came back home with a date.
Residents say the child cried whenever her mother was around and would not be seen outside with other children.
“The woman would lock her up in the house, leaving her hungry for the better part of the day and then return later to beat her up,” says Everline Mulandi, a paralegal.
Ms Mulandi notes that residents never suspected anything sinister but assumed it was normal disciplinary action by a mother.
However, people became curious after noticing that the punishment meted out on the girl always centred on the same issue.
Also, they noticed that the girl was no longer attending school and would remain indoors sobbing in low tones.
“Even when you went to the door and called her by name, she would not respond if she was crying. She would suddenly go silent. That is when we decided to force ourselves in to find out if she was fine,” says Ms Mulandi.
She rescued the girl and reported the matter to Garsen police, who took her to Garsen Hospital.
Tana Delta Base Commander Salim Fundi says the child suffered burns caused by molten plastic and other physical attacks.
Mr Fundi notes that upon being arrested, the unrepentant woman regretted not cutting her daughter into pieces.
“She was not remorseful. She wished she had killed her if only she had known she would end up in jail for ‘torturing her a little’,” he says.
The woman had separated from the child’s father, who has now been given custody of her.
She will be arraigned on Monday.
