Child disappears from rescue centre as defilement case proceeds

A 12-year-old girl placed under custodial protection at a rescue centre in Migori County has disappeared as a case in which a 69-year-old man is accused of defiling her proceeds.

The shelter manager reported the girl missing at Isebania police station on Tuesday last week. When contacted to establish the circumstances of the disappearance, the shelter manager said she had been shocked by what happened and had been unwell since then. She said she was in hospital receiving treatment at the time.

Mabera Sub-County Children’s Officer Janet Robi said she placed the girl under care after she reported the alleged defilement in June. She said she first came across the case while handling a separate matter involving an abandoned nine-month-old child.

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According to her, the mother of the abandoned child went to her office and alleged that an elderly man was defiling the 12-year-old girl. “I took up the defilement case and referred it to the police gender desk for investigation, which prompted the arrest of the perpetrator,” she said.

She said she was informed of the girl’s disappearance after she had been placed at the rescue centre. She said the matter was now with the police and the investigating officer. She also said the girl’s mother could not be traced.

Esther Ang’awa, an advocate of the High Court of Kenya representing the girl, said she wanted her client to be present when the case comes up for hearing on September 28. She said the girl’s disappearance should be investigated, arguing she was in state custody when she went missing.

“I had applied to the Witness Protection Agency for the girl to be placed in protective custody outside Migori County because of concerns over her safety,” she said. “She was to be picked up on a Wednesday, but the girl disappeared from the rescue centre on Tuesday evening.”

The advocate said the girl’s mother is Kenyan and had separated from the girl’s Tanzanian father in Tanzania and returned to Kenya. She said the girl told her she did not attend school, was sent to wash clothes for money, and took care of her younger sibling.

The advocate said the girl had also told her that the accused subjected her to repeated sexual abuse in exchange for money, allegedly giving her Sh100 or Sh200 on some occasions. She maintained that the child was not lost but taken in an attempt to deliberately collapse the case and allow the accused to go free.

Contacted to establish the status of efforts to find the girl, the investigating officer referred us to Janet, the children’s officer. “I will follow up on the matter to the end. I will keep showing up in court, even if the child is absent,” Esther said.