Alarm raised as 11 school girls are defiled, impregnated

Taita-Taveta, Kenya: Eleven secondary school girls have been defiled and impregnated in Taita-Taveta County. The shocking incidents have sparked public outcry in the region with leaders asking the Government to take stern action against the offenders.

Parents of Mshimba Secondary School and education officials said some of the affected students have dropped out of school while others are still continuing with their education. Education officials say three pregnant girls are still in school.

"The students will continue with their education until they give birth," said Mwatate District Education Officer John Kilonzo.

The education officials said the worrying trend is threatening girl child education in the marginalised county. One of the affected girls was impregnated last year and forced to drop out of school, while the remaining 10 got pregnant this year.

The parents of one of the affected girls said she had been married off.

"The well known culprits are free and local provincial administration officials have done little to arrest them. We want the Government to intervene," said Kadoka, a villager in Msau location.

The County Director of Education Jonathan Nyamai and Deputy County Commissioner Shufaa Mwijuma blamed parents for the rising cases of child abuse in the region.

"The problem we are having is that some unscrupulous parents are complicating the fight against child abuse by settling the issues at home. They have failed to volunteer information that could lead to the arrest of the suspects who are still at large," said Mr Kilonzo.

He added: "We are getting a lot of resistance from parents who have been colluding with culprits to support the vice and that is why we are involving provincial administration to deal with the situation."

The DEO said they had instructed Mshimba Secondary School management to record statement with the police to enable further action. Ms Mwijuma said the matter was raised at a District Education Board meeting yesterday.

"One of the cases reported was sodomy of a secondary school going girl. The problem is that the matter was not reported on time," she said.

Speaking to The Standard yesterday, the administrator said they were still investigating a man for allegedly sodomising one of the students. She said child abuse cases are rampant at Msau, Maktau, Kamtonga and Rong'e Juu locations.

Worrying situation

Mwijuma at the same time said the Government has started sensitisation workshops to help deal with the worrying situation.

"We are perturbed by the rising sexual offence cases and defilement tops the list. Something should be done to address such cases," she said.

The administrator called on relevant stakeholders to join hands in the fight against the vice.

Governor John Mruttu says in 2011, there were 20 cases of defilement reported in the region while 65 were reported in 2012. In 2013 about 100 cases were reported.