Girl disappears from home on first day of Term 3

A 17-year-old girl from Oyugis in Homa Bay County has disappeared from home in unclear circumstances.

Eunice Awino, a student of Atemo Mixed Secondary School, vanished from home on May 10; the first day of Term Three studies in the adjusted 2020 academic calendar.

On the said-date, the teenager’s mother, Rael Akinyi, says she went to her bedroom at 6am, and found Awino still asleep.

Waking up late was uncharacteristic of the teenager, the mother said.

“Her school is quite far from where we stay. On normal days, she usually leaves earlier than 6am,” Akinyi told The Standard.

When she asked the teenager why she hadn’t left for school yet, Awino allegedly told her she hadn’t shaved her head, and she would, therefore, be ordered to return home upon reporting to school.

“She further said that no serious learning takes place on Day One of school resumption,” said Akinyi.

The distressed mother said she, consequently, allowed the girl to stay home as she (Awino) prepared to report to school the following day; May 11.

Akinyi, thereafter, left for Oyugis Town, where she was scheduled to meet a staffer attached to the registration of births office so that she could process Awino’s birth certificate, ahead of KCSE exam enrolment.

When the mother-of-ten returned home in the afternoon, her daughter, who is the lastborn, was not around. Her school bag was also missing.

Her books, however, had been stashed in a sack and placed at a corner in the living room.

The money Akinyi had left Awino for food was still on a stool, the girl’s mother said.

Neighbours told Akinyi that they saw the teenager leaving home on a boda boda at noon on May 10.

“I, immediately, inquired from all my relatives who live nearby whether Awino had visited them, but they responded in the negation,” said Akinyi.

Later that day, at around 9pm, Awino called her mother using an anonymous contact, and informed her that she was housed by a middle-aged woman in Kisii, and that Akinyi shouldn’t worry about her.

The distraught parent reported the happenings to her daughter’s school the following day before filing a missing person’s report at Oriwo Police Station.

Almost two weeks later, Awino is yet to be found.

“The only thing I know is that she was last spotted in Nyamira Market. My attempts to trace her have been futile. I hope we find her safe.”

Atemo Mixed Secondary School principal, Philip Ayoo, confirmed to The Standard that the minor is a student at the institution.

“She (Awino) has never had any disciplinary problems. We are shocked to learn that she went missing from home,” said Ayoo.