Police in Mbita are holding a boda boda operator on suspicion of kidnapping and defiling a minor.
According to reports, the suspect abducted the 15-year-old girl on the night of New Year celebrations as she was walking back home. He reportedly blindfolded her and covered her mouth with a piece of cloth before raping her in a bush near Wakiaga Vocational Training Center on Rusinga Island.
After defiling the class 8 girl, the suspect took her to his house where he continued to force himself on her.
The boda boda rider is also said to have threatened to kill the girl if she raised an alarm.
The girl’s mother said she was worried when her daughter failed to return home that evening. “My daughter had never spent a night away from home without informing me. Children who were with her said she was at the trading center until evening,” she said.
On January 2 at around 5 am, the mother received a message from the suspect’s phone number telling her that her daughter had been kidnapped by unknown people.
“Early in the morning, we used true caller and discovered the suspect’s name before reporting the matter to Mbita Police Station,” she said.
The victim returned home mid-morning after escaping from her kidnapper.
“My daughter said she had become weak while hidden in the house. In the morning, she pretended that she was going for a call of nature and disappeared into nearby bushes. That is how she escaped,” the mother said.
The suspect is said to have gone into hiding before he was arrested on Tuesday.
Mbita Sub-county Police Commander Charles Mwangi said investigations are ongoing.
