Four women have been arrested after a Standard Seven girl was gang-raped, doused with acid and killed in Eastleigh, Nairobi.
Among those in police custody is the pupil’s 28-year-old aunt Nathifa Mohamed.
“The girl is suspected to have been gang-raped and murdered in the house where she lived with her aunt Nathifa Mohamed in Eastleigh,” human rights activist Florence Kanyua said on Wednesday.
Several men, women and children were in the house when the 14-year-old girl was killed, police said. The girl had been missing for four days before her body was found on Saturday.
“Children in the apartment noticed the smell and saw a decomposing body in the sitting room. They came and told us,” a neighbour said.
The aunt is alleged to have removed the body for secret burial. However, police intercepted the body at a South C mosque where it had been brought in an ambulance. The police said the body had been cleaned and ready for burial. “The body was in an ambulance that we are still holding,” a detective said.
Neighbours said the girl had been living with the aunt and three other women.
The suspects, according to the police, are of Somali origin. “The girl is a Kenyan but the others foreigners,” an officer told the Star.
The women allegedly told the police the girl had died of a heart attack. Neighbours said men frequented the house but the suspect never let them in.
“There were children and men in the house. We are tracking the men but the children are already in the safe houses to be witnesses,” a police officer said.
“The body was decomposing. Acid wounds are a testimony that the girl underwent trauma during the four days she was missing.”
Nathifa was arrested on Sunday and taken to court on Monday. Police sought to detain her at Pangani police station for 14 days as they conducted more investigations.
The other suspects are expected in court today. The girl was buried on Monday at the Lang’ata cemetery as per the Islamic tradition.