Body of missing Kakamega girl, 9, found in water tank

Police in Kakamega on Friday recovered the body of a nine-year old girl who had been missing for five days.

Sharlyne Mwanzia was found dumped in a water tank just behind her parents’ rented house in Kakamega’s Scheme Estate.

RECOVERED

Her uncle Oscar Mulu said he went to inspect the cause of a foul smell coming from the tank at around 3pm and saw the body.

The finding caused a commotion as a crowd bayed for the blood of a man suspected to have killed the girl.

Police officers led by OCPD Joseph Chebii struggled to keep the angry crowd at bay, as they ferried the body to the mortuary.

The girl’s disappearance had caused her parents agony and residents marched in protest on Wednesday to demand police action.

SEARCH

Sharlyne, a standard three pupil, was playing with her two younger brothers in their compound on Sunday when she went missing.

Neighbours said a stranger had approached the girl and was seen talking to her at the gate before she went missing.

They said the man has been approaching young girls in the estate and trying to lure them to accompany him.

Sharlyne’s father Oswald Mwanzia, a trader in Kakamega, said he and neighbours searched for the girl in the whole the estate but they did not find her.

He said police officers visited the home of a suspect on Sunday night but did not find him.

“We found the father of the suspect who was seen talking to my daughter but he denied his son had anything to do with the disappearance," Mr Mwanzia said.

Kakamega Central deputy police chief Jonah Sitienei said they are investigating.

On Friday, a mob set on fire the house of the suspect's father.

KILLINGS

The murder rekindled memories of suspected ritual killings.

Five years ago, three girls were killed and their mutilated bodies found dumped in the estate sparking protests in Kakamega Town.

Three years ago, the county was again hit by an upsurge of disappearances and bizarre killing of girls.

The bodies were found dumped in maize and sugarcane plantations.

Cases of girls being defiled and later murdered were reported in Butere, Likuyani, Lugari, Lurambi and Shinyalu.

BODY

Earlier in the week, another village in Kakamega County was in shock after the mutilated body of a nine-year-old girl was found in a bush.

The girl went missing a week earlier from her home in neighbouring Nandi North Sub-County.

Villagers stumbled on a jaw and two legs lying next to clothes the girl was wearing before she disappeared.

Police officers who visited the scene were trying to establish whether wild animals had eaten up parts of the girl's body and what could have caused her death. They are investigating.