We are too old to be in prison, Migori couple imprisoned over FGM say

MIGORI COUNTY: A couple serving four years jail term in Migori Prison now want the government to allow them go home.

Simeon Mabanga, 87 and his wife Rasoa Mabanga 51 were sentenced to four years in prison after a magistrate court in Migori found them guilty of allowing their daughter to undergo female circumcision in Kuria.

Addressing the press in Migori Prison, Mabanga said that he was not guilty of the charges levelled against him.

"My daughter decided to go for circumcision with her friends without my knowledge, they escaped at night when we were asleep," said Mabanga.

He further said, "I am not for the female circumcision, I did not allow it, even her elder sisters did not go for it. I tried telling the judge all these but he insisted that I was guilty."

The couple said that their daughter got swayed by her friends who made her believe that going for circumcision was one of the best things.

During the hearing, Mabanga said that the daughter told the judge that the father had nothing to do with her decision to undergo the cut.

"My daughter requested the judge to allow me go home because I was innocent, the judge maintained that I was guilty and deserved to be in prison. With my age, I ought to have waited for my death in my home not in the prison," said Mabanga.

His wife Rasoa also maintains that their daughter left home without their consent, in company of other girls and went for the cut.

"I only realized later when my daughter was bleeding excessively, as a mother I took her to the hospital for medication, it then that we were arrested and charged for allowing our daughter undergo circumcision," said Rasoa.

She further confirmed to the press, "I come from the Luhya Community; I am married to Kuria community where they practice this and totally don't agree with it."

The couple is currently worried of the state of their children being that all of them are behind the bars.

"I am old and weak; we are jailed together with my wife, what is the condition of my children at home? Are they going to school and how do they eat?" posed Mabanga.

The couple is currently serving the second year of their four year jail term.