KISUMU: South West Seme Location Chief Michael Odhiambo is expected to be arraigned in court Tuesday after preliminary medical investigations indicated that an orphaned Standard Six pupil at Ranen Primary school had actually been abused.
According to the girl’s grandmother Margret Odinga, the old woman had gone to church on Sunday and left the granddaughter to take care of the domestic chores.
It was during this time that the chief took advantage of the grandmother’s absence and called the girl, duping her that he wanted to send her to a nearby shop.
“The children do go to school very early in the morning and come very late in the evening and they are only free on Sunday. That is the time I do give my grandchild time to do her washing and help in other domestic chores,” said Ms Odinga.
The girl said she got the chief taking breakfast and demanded that she gets into the house.
“He quickly threw me onto the bed and started undressing me. I tried to plead with him but he threatened that he would beat me if I ever raised an alarm,” said the girl.
After the act, the chief detained the girl in his house till late in the evening when the girl reported the matter to her grandmother.
“She was in pain and she explained while sobbing, how the chief had mishandled her. I took her to hospital while her inner clothing were all covered with blood,” said the grandmother.
The chief is expected to be arraigned before Maseno Court Tuesday where he is expected to answer to defilement charges.
Area Children Officer Beatrice Atieno expressed fears with the incident, saying that the residents’ trust on the authorities may be compromised by the act.
“We have been using the chiefs and other local leaders in dealing with issues of defilement and it is very scary to learn that the same authorities are involved. We don’t know whether residents will still have trust in them. This case must be fully handled and justice prevail so as to stem out this kind of behavior,” said Ms Atieno.
