Shame! These are the Morans who Tried to circumcise a 10 year Girl

In this file photo a man shows the logo of a T-shirt that reads "Stop the Cut" referring to Female Genital Mutilation during an event advocating against the harmful practice.

A 10-year-old girl has been rescued from forced circumcision and early marriage at Suguta Marmar in Samburu Central.

Samburu County Commissioner John Korir said area chief and police officers rescued the minor. Good Samaritans reported the matter. “We got a report that a girl was to be married off today. She is here at the office, and we will take her to a safe place where she will stay and go to school,” he said.

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Police have intensified efforts to arrest the suspects. “We are pursuing elders and morans behind the plan. They have migrated from the village, but we will arrest them and take them to court,” Korir said.

He said nine other girls across the county have been rescued from the outlawed cultural practice, one week after schools closed.

Samburu Girls Foundation, an institution that owns a girl’s rescue centre at Loosuk in Samburu Central, has received 15 girls rescued early marriages organised by their parents.

Six Pokot Girls Unlucky

Three women were on Tuesday arrested in West Pokot for subjecting six girls into female genital mutilation.

Two of the girls were taken to Kapenguria Teaching and Referral Hospital for treatment while four escaped with their parents.Area chief Israel Atukole said he got a tip-off from neighbours that the girls had been circumcised at Parek village.

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Atukole said he mobilised police reservists who raided the village and arrested two parents, the circumcisor and rescued two girls. “Four girls who had been cut and their parents managed to escape. We have launched a search for them. Cases of FGM in my location have been rampant. We have increased patrols to ensure no more girls undergo the cut,” he said.

One of the police reservists Samson Ngole said they raided the home at 6.00 am on Tuesday morning.

“These days they cut the girls in secret. The girls were cut on Monday night. They are between 12 to 15 years. One of the girls is a Standard 8 candidate and was set to be married off before doing her KCPE,” he said.

He added they face a challenge to rescue more girls because of the hilly terrain that hinders them from accessing some places.

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“We had to walk for more than 30km to get to the girls but unfortunately some of the parents escaped,” he said

Anti-FGM activists have condemned the incident, saying such cases are rampant during this holiday.

“It’s saddening that some girls bleed almost to death. We urge security officers to help us get the remaining suspects and take them to court,” said Domitilla Chesang, an anti-FGM ambassador.

The government has tried to crack down on the illegal act but it seems it won’t just go away. It could be that they are using the wrong methods to address the issue. Maybe it is time to change tact and involve the communities involved as part of the measures.

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