Women recall terror of stripping threats

A police officer accused of assaulting a 16-year-old schoolgirl in a matatu in Kayole claimed he was a member of the notorious Gaza gang, the girl told the Nation Tuesday.

Tracy Moraa (not her real name) was on her way home from Calvary Church in Komarock Sector 1. She had boarded a matatu in Kayole’s Tushauriane Stage last Sunday accompanied by her auntie.

According to her, four men who appeared drunk boarded the matatu at Kanisani Stage, in Kayole. Among them was Corporal Christopher Gathara, she said.

“One sat next to me and told me that I looked good in my dress. I thanked him and he asked me if he could buy me soda. I ignored him and the other man seated behind us poured some juice he was carrying on our seat and messed up my dress,” she says.

Tracy — wearing the dress she wore last Sunday — says that when she got up to clean her dress, two of the men stood up and started touching her inappropriately under the guise of helping her wipe her dress.

“They were saying wacha tukupanguzie juice, (allow us to wipe your dress). The man seated next to me was inserting his hands inside my dress. That is when my aunt stood up to protect me,” says the Form Three student.

“When one of them grabbed Tracy’s dress and tried to pull it down, I tried to protect her and the AP officer hit me on the head,” says Patricia Nkatha, Tracy’s aunt.

The driver asked the tout to shut the matatu door as he drove to the Kayole Police Station, but this was not enough to deter the AP and his team from threatening Nkatha and her niece.

THREATENED WITH RAPE

According to the two women, the AP officer threatened to rape and strip them.

“He said, ‘Those dresses you are wearing, you are supposed to wear them for your husbands. We will strip all of you naked,’” says Tracy.

Nkatha says that the AP threatened to strip her first and then move on to Tracy.

Nkatha was dressed in a flowing maxi dress and a jacket.

The officer also declared that he belonged to the notorious Gaza gang that has been terrorising residents in Kayole.

“The AP officer told me to stop making noise, pretending that I am protecting other women. He told me: ‘We are Gaza and there is nothing you can do to us,’” says Nkatha.

Two of the four men were arrested by the public and taken to the police station.

Tracy and Nkatha followed them to the police station to record statements and the two women say that it was only after the OCS slapped the AP that the officer cooperated with the police.

“When we got to the police station, he was rude to the police. He didn’t even want to sit down until the OCS roughed him up,” recalls Nkatha.

On Monday, the Mr Gathara was charged alongside Samwel Ngigi, a tout, for indecently assaulting the 16-year-old girl inside the Mwamba Sacco bus.

The suspects appeared before Makadara chief magistrate Emily Ominde.

They were each released on Sh50,000 bond with a surety of similar amount. However, neither Tracy not her aunt Nkatha feel safe, especially after they were threatened.

“I am not safe at all. My dress was not short. But if that made somebody say that he will strip me, what if I wear a proper short dress? Won’t he use whatever means to strip me naked? I was lucky my auntie was there to fight them. It would have been worse,” says Tracy.

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HE SAID I AM A PROSTITUTE

“My name is Regina Nyambura. I am 21 years old and a mother of a three-year-old girl, who lives with my mother in my rural home.

I live in Matopeni, Kayole estate, with my sister Martha Wambui. On a typical day, you will find me in one of Kayole’s matatu stages hawking boiled eggs — they call it mayai gonga and kachumbari (salad) — to matatu touts, boda boda riders and other customers. I walk around with a bucket of eggs and return home to boil more when they run out.

Monday, November 17. That is slightly over a week ago when I was doing my rounds in Kayole’s Mihang’o stage. I sold two eggs to a tout known as Muiruri. I sell one egg at Sh20, and so Muiruri owed me Sh40. So, imagine my shock when he handed me Sh10.

I demanded my money. My sister, who had accompanied me that day, asked me to leave the man alone and go on with my business. I heeded her and we left.

But that tout did not let me leave without insulting me. He called me a prostitute. I told him to stop insulting me, that I am somebody’s wife and mother. I am not married though, but that doesn’t give him the permission to insult me.

I walked away, with my sister two steps behind. I was thinking how I would recover that precious Sh30, when Muiruri suddenly lifted my skirt. I thought it was a big joke. I told him “Muiruri, wacha ujinga! Unafanya nini mbele ya watu?” (Muiruri, stop being silly! What are you doing in public?)

My skirt was not short, if that is what you think. It was knee-length. I had worn it hundreds of times before and walked around the many matatu stages in Kayole.

INSULTED

Before I could scream, another man grabbed my weave from behind and pushed me down. Another lifted my blouse. I felt my skirt rip into pieces. I tried to cover my nakedness with my hands, but the men would have none of it. They insulted me. That was the last thing I remember.

I woke up in a bed at Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital in Kayole. I woke up with a start. I thought it was a bad dream. Tubes were stuck on my left arm. A doctor told me that I was lucky to be alive. I asked to go to the toilet.

I could barely walk. My weave was dusty and smelly. I had a strange, longer, black skirt on. It was not the skirt I left home in. In the toilet, I saw marks on my body; I realised I had been stripped naked in public.

I told the doctor that I felt okay and I should be discharged. I was allowed to leave. I did not have my phone, my purse or my money. It was about 9pm.

Some boda boda riders saw me seated at the stage crying. One of them offered to take me home. I got home at 10.46pm. Because I did not have my house keys, I slept at a neighbour’s.

The next morning, my body ached all over. I felt dirty and defiled. Neighbours who knew me as Nyambura the egg seller now call me Nyambura who was stripped. The shame is too much.

I want justice. I am 21 years old, working hard to feed my daughter, but I was stripped because I stood my ground. Muiruri is still screaming his lungs out calling passengers so that he can earn his Sh20 for every matatu he fills. I still see three other bodaboda riders who attacked me. I want these men brought to justice.”