Baringo father charged with defilement of 8-year-old daughter in bizarre case
A 35-year-old boda boda rider from Baringo North has been charged with repeatedly defiling his eight-year-old daughter.
What you need to know:
- A 35-year-old man from Baringo North suspected of defiling his eight-year-old daughter has been arraigned in Kabarnet Law Court.
- He is accused of committing the offense multiple times between January and September 21 of this year.
- The Grade Two girl is recuperating at Baringo County Referral Hospital.
A 35-year-old boda boda rider from Baringo North has been charged with repeatedly defiling his eight-year-old daughter. The suspect was arraigned in Kabarnet Law Court before Senior Resident Magistrate Edwin Mulochi on Thursday where he denied the charges.
He's accused of committing the offense multiple times between January and September 21 of this year.
The crime came to light when the child's pregnant mother noticed her Grade Two daughter was in pain and acting unusually while washing clothes at a river. Upon questioning, the girl revealed that her father had been abusing her when the mother was not home. The suspect allegedly showed the child inappropriate adult content before committing the acts.
The mother recounted: "I was disturbed by the revelation and stopped what I was doing. I was in deep thought, wondering what kind of disturbance she meant,” the distraught mother said fighting back tears.
She took her daughter to a local health facility on the evening, where the child disclosed the abuse to healthcare workers.
Antenatal clinic
The health worker advised the mother to report the matter to the police. However, the suspect became suspicious and started following the mother's every move.
On the day the mother was scheduled for an antenatal clinic visit, September 24, the suspect insisted on accompanying her.
The breakthrough came when human rights activists, accompanied by the area chief and police officers, intervened at the health facility. They arrested the suspect, allowing the police to take over the matter.
The mother recalled that her daughter had previously hinted several times about wanting to live with her grandmother in their rural home.
“It was only after these revelations that I was able to piece things together, including her repeated pleas to go and stay with her grandmother,” she noted.
Baringo County Police Commander Julius Kiragu confirmed the arrest: "We arrested the suspect on Tuesday, and he has been in our custody because we were still gathering information from the minor at Kabarnet Police Station because we had no gender officer at the station where the incident was reported."
The child underwent a medical examination, and a report was filed at Kabarnet Police Station along with a completed P3 form. The girl is recuperating at Baringo County Referral Hospital .
Defilement cases
The suspect was charged with defilement contrary to section 8 (1) and section 8 (2) of the sexual offences Act number 3 of 2006, with an alternative count of indecent act with a minor.
He was arraigned before Kabarnet Senior Resident Magistrate Edwin Mulochi on Thursday. Senior Resident Magistrate Mulochi ordered that he be remanded at the Kabarnet GK Prison until October 11, this year when the case will be mentioned.
Human rights activists in the region have raised concerns about rising defilement cases in Baringo North, with many going unreported.
Nancy Kiptoon, a rights defender, stated: "We are concerned over rising cases of defilement in Baringo County with many of them going unreported. Some few that are reported end up dragging in court as witnesses disappear after being threatened by the suspects, scuttling justice."
In 2021, Baringo North witnessed a tragic case that underscores the severity of child abuse in the region. A ten-year-old girl, who had been defiled by her 50-year-old uncle, succumbed to her injuries at Sunrise Children's home in Kabarnet, where she had been placed in safe custody.
The minor had been under her aunt's care for seven years, following her mother's desertion of her and four siblings due to alleged alcoholism by their father.
The child had been in and out of the hospital, spending three weeks at Kabarnet Hospital before being referred to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret. Despite a month-long stay at the referral hospital, she ultimately succumbed to her injuries.
