By SOPHIAH MUTHONI
Mombasa, Kenya: The heart-rending situation facing Baby Satrin Osinya mirrors the fate of a 17-year-old Pakistani girl who was attacked by gunmen in an incident that gripped the world’s attention.
Like Baby Satrin, who has a bullet lodged in his head after the attack on a church in Likoni, Malala Yousafzai from Mingora, Pakistan, and an activist for girls’ rights to go to school, a suffered similar violation.
In 2012 when Malala was only 15 years old, she was shot on the right side of her head by a Taliban for being vocal about girls being allowed to attend school.
The bullet travelled down to her neck and left her in a critical condition. This saw a portion of her skull removed to treat her swelling brain.
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She received numerous surgeries that included one to repair a facial nerve to fix the paralysis on the left side of her face. She, however, did not suffer brain damage.
Westgate Mall
Today, Malala has received international recognition with a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize both in 2013 and 2014. Despite the attack, she continues to fight for the rights of women and the right to education.
She, however, still remains a target of the Taliban.
The attack on the Westgate Mall also saw a lot of children caught in the cross fire. A good example is 16-year-old student Nehal Vekaria who was reported to have died from a fatal shot to the eye.
It was reported that her final conversation with her father was her telling him that she was with a friend and was alright, before the line went dead.
Brutality
15-year-old Raisah Viranah was also a victim of the terrorists’ brutality during the Westgate attack.
Her story can in a way be related to that of Malala since Raisah was shot twice for refusing to move to the side of Muslims when the terrorists made the order. One bullet hit her hand and the other one went to her back.
But despite her injuries, she was able to save her friend by pushing her out of the mall in a shopping trolley.
Fardosa Abdi, a Canadian teenager, may not be able to walk again after a terrorist’s bullet shattered her legs during the Westgate attack.
As long as terrorists continue to roam the globe, we will continue to have more cases like that of Baby Satrin and Malala and all the children who were wounded during the attack on the mall in Nairobi.
Baby Satrin joins the statistics of children around the world who have fallen victim to a bullet to the head by terrorists.