25 defiled in Tetu East in last five months, says administrator

 

Twenty-five children have been defiled in Tetu East subcounty of Nyeri since the first case of Covid-19 was confirmed in the country in March.

Assistant county commissioner Zipporah Gatimu said on Monday that 10 of them became pregnant during that period.

“It is unfortunate that those involved in the defilement of the children are young and old men of above 60 years,” she said.

“There have also been cases of early marriages where children have been running away from their homes and getting married.”

Sex predators mostly prey on children aged between 11 and 18 years, she said.

However, Gatimu said the National Government Administrative Officers (NGAOs) have been talking to parents on how to stop the vice.

Children have been out of school for five months, while most people have been indoors, leading to an increase in levels of frustration and rise in cases of violence against children and women.

On Friday during his tour of Nyeri, Interior CS Fred Matiang’i said that cases of violence against children and women were on the rise across the country.

He said the government will use NGAOs to bring the cases down.

“The president ordered us, during the ninth address, to have the crime research centre come up with a report and one thing that was distinguished in that report was that we need to intensify the work that NGAO officials do in the community,” he said.

His ministry, the CS said, has made changes that have seen officials in the field reenergised and contacts between the government and the people strengthened.

He emphasised the need to draw in faith-based organisations and leaders to fight violence.

“Some of the experiences that we have had and what we have seen, especially violence against our children and women, is stuff we cannot live with as a society, and we cannot hope to develop if we cannot address these issues,” he said.

“Enforcing the law and arresting these people is one way of doing it but community engagement and sustained education through barazas, the Nyumba Kumi initiative and constant engagement is another way of dealing with the challenge.”

He spoke after meeting NGAO officials at Freedom Hall at Dedan Kimathi University in Nyeri town.