Four-year-old girl dies in Hola after defilement

A four-year-girl who was allegedly defiled by a 43-year-old man in Tana River County last Thursday has died.

The little girl died on Sunday while undergoing treatment at Hola District Hospital.

Speaking to Nation, the hospital’s medical superintendent, Dr Fred Mokanu, said the report on what killed the girl would be out in due course at the consent of the family or a court order.

The rape suspect has been arrested as police continue with investigations.

“We received the report on the incident and arrested the individual. We are, however, carrying out more investigations to establish if his actions could have led to the girl’s death,” said Hola OCPD Sylvester Githongo.

LURED

The man is said to have lured the child with goodies before raping her.

In another incident, a 73-year-old man was arrested in the same village after residents informed police that he was keeping a 10-year-old girl in his house as a wife.

Initial investigations later revealed that the man had abducted the girl and had been defiling her.

The girl’s parents said the man had threatened to kill her if she dared expose him.

“He swore to kill me and kill my parents if I happened to tell anybody of what I was going through,” the girl said.

Her parents were alarmed after she failed to return home after she went to play with her friends.

They mounted a search for the girl only to be informed she had been seen entering the man’s house.

The man was later arrested and will be charged with rape.

Rape cases and early marriages have been on the rise in Tana River since the onset of the short rains.

At least 10 rape cases have been reported in a period of one month.