Form One student in Vihiga hacked to death after suspected rape

Police officers carry the body of a Form One student at Kidinye Secondary School to their van, while bewildered villagers watch at Kihila village on Oct 2, 2016. The girl was raped and murdered on Saturday night by an unknown person. Police have launched investigations. [PHOTO: ERIC LUNGAI/STANDARD]

A 14-year-old Form One student was on Saturday night found dead at her home in Kihila of Chango sub-location in Vihiga County.

Dinah Tharula, a student at Kidinye Secondary School, was found dead by her uncle, Geoffrey Onaya, on Sunday morning when he went to wake her up. The uncle lives in the same compound but in a different house.

Ms Tharula lived with her grandmother, Ruth Imali, who was not at home when the incident occurred.

Vihiga police boss Alfred Angengo said they suspected the girl was first raped and then killed by her assailant.

"We recovered a used condom at the scene. We suspect she was killed using either a panga or an axe as the body was in a bad state," Mr Angengo said.

He added that there were signs of a scuffle between the girl and her assailant. The body was covered in mud although there were no signs that the house had been broken into.

Mr Angengo appealed to local residents to volunteer information that could lead to the culprit's arrest.

Joyce Monyani, a neighbour, said the girl's grandmother had gone to her matrimonial home in Masana, Hamisi constituency, on Saturday and could not come return home because of a heavy downpour.

HEAVY RAINFALL

"The other grandchild who stays in the same compound was away and was also stranded because of the heavy rainfall, which meant she (Tharula) had to stay alone through the night," said Ms Monyani. "So she was an easy target for the person who committed this crime."

"The girl was brought here by her mother last December to keep her grandmother company after the death of her grandfather," she added.

She noted that the girl's uncle had gone to the house in the evening and asked her for supper.

"The uncle stayed with her until late in the night and left the house after securing all the doors," said Monyani.

Aggrey Esendi, the deceased's teacher, said the death had dealt a blow to her class because she was the top student ever since she joined the school this year.

"We don't know what the killer wanted in such a young girl with a bright future ahead of her. We urge the government to make sure justice is served as soon as possible," Mr Esendi said.

Area MCA Abdalla Chogo urged the Government to help counties set up crime scene investigation departments to help deal with such cases faster.

"We waited for close to six hours for the crime officers to come from Kakamega. If there were some nearby, they would have dealt with the matter much faster," Mr Chogo said.

He urged parents to always make sure that their children were safe when they were on long journeys.