Widow fears for her life after reporting man who defiled her daughter

A widow in Rongo, Migori County, now lives in fear after her family threatened to evict her from their home because she declined to settle a defilement case out-of-court.

In a bid to seek justice for her 13-year-old daughter who was defiled by her uncle last Thursday, the woman decided to involve the police in the case, something that has not been taken lightly by her family.

Speaking to Citizen Digital, she said she has been receiving threats from her family because they wanted the case treated as a family matter and settled within the family.

“In a previous meeting, they agreed that the suspect pay me Ksh5000 to drop the cases and another Ksh2000 be paid to the chief in the area to stop the case from reaching the courts. I refused,” narrated the widow.

Confirming the incident, Rongo OCPD Kisaka Muganda said police have the information about the case and they have since launched investigations, assuring the widow of her safety.

The victim, a Standard six girl, narrated to Citizen Digital that the uncle offered her together with her friends, who were coming from a crusade, a lift. After dropping all her friends at their homes, he forcefully drove with her to his house a defiled her before threatening to kill her if she disclosed the incident to any member of the family.

The Migori County Children Department has raised concerns that many defilement cases are not being reported because most of the time the victims are intimidated and forced into settling them in Kangaroo Courts presided by elders and local chiefs.

Edited by Majanga Michael