Minor still in hospital after puzzling morning abduction that almost cost her life

The abduction victim at Mediheal Hospital in Nakuru. She was attacked by unknown assailants after being kidnapped from her home in Bondeni slum.[Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

A nine year-old girl who was stabbed after being kidnapped at Bondeni slums in Nakuru town last month is crying for justice.

Her abductors slit her stomach and left her for dead in the bush, a short distance from home.

The girl, a Standard Three pupil at Kivumbini Primary School, was snatched from outside her home as she played with friends.

She was found hours later at Ndararugu area writhing in pain, with her organs spilling out of her abdomen.

Baffling attack

The September 7 morning incident baffled many, most of all the young victim.  She recalls playing in the sun at around 10am, waiting for her mother to prepare breakfast, when the three assailants - two men and a woman - grabbed her from behind.

“They carried me to a car, covered my mouth, and forced me to swallow a substance that I could not identify,” she recalls.

She became unconscious and when she came to after several hours, she was lying in a pool of blood from a gaping wound in her abdomen.

She cried out for help, attracting the attention of children who were playing nearby.

A well-wisher called an ambulance that rushed her to Mediheal Hospital where, for three hours, doctors fought to save her life.

Dr Aemen Asher, a consultant surgeon at Mediheal, said the girl is lucky to be alive. Had she not briefly regained consciousness, cried out for help, and been rushed to the hospital in time, she would have bled to death.

“She was bleeding profusely and required an emergency operation,” said Dr Asher.

Asher found three stab wounds in the girl's stomach that had caused a blood clot in her intestines and lower abdomen. Most of the girl's intestines were hanging out.

Badly damaged

“We repaired the intestines, but we had to remove a section that was badly damaged to save her life,” said the surgeon.

All this time her mother was not aware of her ordeal. She got to know about her daughter's condition from a boda boda operator who was passing by the area where the girl was found.

She sat by her daughter's bedside for seven days after she was wheeled out of the theatre.

But the family's ordeal is far from over. Though the girl underwent a successful treatment at the private hospital, she cannot be allowed to leave because of an accumulated medical bill of Sh551,000.

The mother, who does odd jobs in Nakuru town to earn a living, is happy that her daughter is out of danger, but now has to figure out how to take her home.

“I cannot believe my daughter can now stand on her feet, but I cannot afford the hospital bill,” said the mother.

Hospital bill

She too is puzzled by the attack that almost took the life of her daughter.

"I do not have a grudge with anyone to warrant such an attack on my daughter," she said.

Police said they were investigating the incident.