A woman is currently in police custody after she allegedly forced her 12-year-old twin girls to undergo Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
The mother of the girls who is currently held at Chuka police station said, she had circumcised her other four girls to avoid a family curse that had caused her mental problems when she ignored the cut.
“My dead great-grandfather left a curse compelling all girls in his lineage to undergo the cut. If girls do not get the cut they go mad,” the woman said.
She alleged that the girls had started developing some mental complications but recovered immediately they were circumcised.
“I have to choose between death and circumcising them,” she added.
The woman was arrested Wednesday after the girls were found hidden at a home in Igambang’ombe Constituency, Tharaka-Nithi County.
Confirming the incident, County Commissioner Muzne Abdullatif said her office received a tip-off from officers working with Plan International, a non-governmental organisation, that the two girls had undergone the “cut”.
Ms Abdullatif added that the girls were mutilated two weeks ago.
Senior Sergeant Patrick Munene added that the act was performed by a well-known woman in the area who allegedly collaborated with their mother.
The twins were taken to Chuka Referral Hospital where they received treatment before they were transferred to the child department as investigations continue.
A clinical officer at the hospital who sought anonymity said one of the girls had been infected with a bacteria disease and was put under medication.
According to a UNICEF report, Kenya stands at 21 per cent prevalence of FGM against other African countries. Now, only one in five girls may have undergone some kind of FGM, with the practice remaining high among the Kisii, Somali, Maasai and Samburu communities.
On the issue of menstrual health, over 900,000 girls miss up to four days of school when they are on their period because they don’t have access to menstrual hygiene products. In the 2017/2018 financial year, Kenya budgeted Sh500 million for the sanitary towels, a significant increase from the previous year’s budget that stood at Sh400 million.