KNUT officials implicated in threatening family of defiled minor

Police in Kisumu are investigating alleged threats made against activists who reported a teacher for defiling and impregnating a Standard Eight pupil.

This follows the arrest of a suspect on Friday. The suspect is being detained at the Awasi Police Station.

The 14-year-old girl the teacher is alleged to have defiled was admitted to the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital. She was bleeding after her efforts to procure an abortion backfired.

Two activists claimed that Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) officials, who were in a group at a nearby market centre, planned to “fix” them for reporting the matter to authorities.

They said aside from the officials issuing the warning in public, they had even driven to their homes and issued further threats.

The activists said they were not taking the threats lightly because their lives and those of their family members could be in danger, hence the decision to report the matter at the Awasi police station under Occurrence Book number N-10/24/06/2019.

Nyando OCPD Leonard Matete confirmed the reports and claimed the Knut officials were trying to protect the suspect.

Mr Matete said on Saturday the suspect attempted to escape from the cells and ran towards a car parked near the police station.

“We will arrest those issuing threats as soon as we conclude the investigations,” he said.

 Nyando Knut Secretary General Ephraim Kananga said they would help police to get to the bottom of the matter. “The information is still unclear, but we are willing to cooperate,” Mr Kananga said.