15-man gang forces man to watch as they rape daughters

A gang of 15 men forced a man to watch as they raped his two daughters in Bura Tana Constituency in Tana River County.

The two girls were admitted to Garissa Referral Hospital after they were attacked at Wayu village in the county.

The girls said they were looking for a lost camel when they were stopped by the men.

The man was tied to a tree and forced to watch as the gang raped the daughters, aged 16 and 23, in turns.

“They had pangas and other crude weapons. They confronted us and wrestled our father to the ground and tied him to a tree,” said one of the girls (name withheld).

She said the men turned on them, tore their clothes and raped them. She said their father pleaded with them to kill him instead of the humiliation of making him watch as they raped his daughters.

“I was about to raise alarm when I felt a strong hands on my mouth before I was pushed to the thorny ground. Another group at the same time descended on my younger sister. She was equally wrestled to the ground and repeatedly raped like me in turns,” she said.

ARRESTED

She said their father was admitted to Bura Tana Dispensary as he was injured during the attack.

She said the incident was reported to the area chief and police but no action had been taken against the suspects.

Human right activists and political leaders who visited the girls at the hospital asked the police to arrest the suspects, who they said were known.

The county assembly member for Garissa township, Abdifatah Kassim, called for the immediate interdiction of the area chief, saying he had failed to take action after the incident was reported to him.

Children's rights activist Ibrahim Aden said the culprits should be arrested and prosecuted.

“These girls are traumatised. This matter should not be handled by village elders. The culprits must pay for their heinous crimes as provided by the law,” he said.