Thirteen-year-old girl in Kuresoi North nurses wounds after father burns her with hot knife
A yellow tape indicating a crime scene.
Police in Cheptagum village, Kuresoi North, are investigating a man who allegedly burned his 13-year-old daughter's buttocks with a hot knife.
According to the chairman of Nyumba Kumi, Geoffrey Bett, the man is believed to have committed the crime a week ago and locked the child in the house, refusing to allow her to seek medical attention.
Neighbours claim that the child had not been seen for some time and it was only yesterday, when she came out to bask in the sun, that some neighbours noticed her.
Out of curiosity, they inquired about her whereabouts as they had not seen her for over a week.
"She told the neighbours how her father took a hot knife and burned her on her buttocks. That was not the sad part. Even after the incident, the father did not see fit to take his daughter to hospital for medical attention," Mr Bett says.
"The mother knew what had happened but could do nothing because the father had threatened to harm them if they reported the matter to anyone," he says.
Mr Bett reveals that even when neighbours took the initiative to take the 13-year-old to hospital, she kept complaining about how the father would harm her now that the neighbours knew what had happened.
"When the girl was questioned, she revealed that the father had beat her because she had seen him with boys on the estate," Mr Bett says.
Alvin Kiptur, secretary of Nyumba Kumi, says they were informed of the incident and immediately started searching for the father.
"We looked for him in the places where he hangs out, but we did not find him. However, we found him in another place and when we questioned him about what was going on in his household, he was reluctant and tried to resist. We took him to Sirikwa police station by force," Mr Kiptur says.
According to Kuresoi North Sub County Police Commander Judah Gathenge, they got wind of the information from the locals and the suspect is now in custody.
"The child was allegedly assaulted by the father a week ago. The father had warned both the mother and the child not to report the incident, so it went unnoticed for a long time. The child has been taken to Molo Sub County Hospital for medical attention," said Gathenge.
The suspect will appear in court on 24 February.