Multi-defilement victim, 12, lives in fear but police reluctant to act

For ten days she repeatedly relived her worst nightmare. Her tormentor robbed her of her innocence and now she has to live with the scars all her life.

It started with a phone and then unsolicited car rides and what followed was an ordeal that turned into a nightmare.

It was on a Friday evening at Soweto in Kayole, Nairobi County. Maryanne -  not her real name - was playing with her friends when a man called her to his car.

“I was playing with my friends around 6pm. The man called me and told me to go to Stepa where he had parked his car,” she relates. Like a moth fatally attracted to a lamp, Maryanne hesitantly approached the car.

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 “I screamed and cried for help because it was so painful. When he was done, he told me to put on my clothes, gave me Sh100, and told me to go home,” Maryanne narrated.

For 10 consecutive days, the Grade Six girl endured a horrific desecration and every day, her tormentor used her as a toy to satisfy his wicked sexual desires.

Her tormentor was known to her. The man in his 40s had mastered her routine and he would spot her playing with friends in Soweto, Kayole.

“He did that ten times in his car. Every time he called me to the car, he would give me his phone to play games then undress me,” she says.

After each day’s session, the man, old enough to be her father and four times her age, would thrust a Sh100 note as if to atone for his ugly act.

This happened during the August holidays.

“Another day, he took me to MYSA area at around 7pm. He gave me his phone, undressed me and defiled me. I was so scared. There was no one close to help me.”

“I was crying telling him it is painful, but he kept telling me to shut up,” the minor recalled. The man is reportedly a businessman in Soweto in Kayole where he runs a shop and sells secondhand household items and electronics.

“Every time I see that man I feel scared. I want police to arrest him,” she said.

The distance from Maryanne’s home in Patanisho area to where the car was parked is about a kilometre.

“I never disclosed it to my mum because I feared she would beat me,” she added.

She confided in her teacher who happened to spot her playing with her friends, yet she had not reported to school on that day.

The teacher then reported the matter to the area chief who summoned her parents the following day.

Maryanne was taken to Mama Lucy Hospital a day later by her father, accompanied by a children’s protection officer, for a medical examination. The doctor’s report confirmed she had been defiled. The medical reports, which The Standard has, indicate that the incident happened on August 23 but she was taken to hospital on August 30.

Painful and traumatic

According to her father, the matter was reported at Soweto Police Station on September 2, 2024, and recorded his statement under OB No 33/02/09/24.

Maryanne was deprived of her innocence in a painful and traumatic ordeal, but the universe still conspired to frustrate her pursuit of justice.

Her father says that he got news that the man had been released a week after he was arrested.

“We did not know under which circumstances he was released. It was a surprise. I went back to the police station and no one gave me a report about the status of the case. I am in the dark,” he said.

“How can an adult do such a thing and go unpunished? It means that he will keep doing it because no action has been taken against him,” the bitter father added.

He has since been accompanying the daughter to and from school every day.

“I fear for my child’s life because we do not know what he can do now that he has been released,” he lamented.

But that was not the first time Maryanne was defiled by the man.

According to the father, he first defiled her about two years ago. Again, the case was reported at Soweto Police Station, but no action was taken.

“This is not the first time he is doing this to my child, but the police are not taking any action. I would like to see him arrested and taken to court so that my child can get justice. He should serve as a lesson to other perpetrators,” he added.

Maryanne’s mother reiterated the frustrations in pursuit for justice when her daughter was first defiled.

According to her, the perpetrator’s shop is located in the neighbourhood where they used to live before relocating to Patanisho.

“When that case was reported, the man disappeared. Police told us to alert them them if we saw him at the shop,” she says.

The mother added that it is not easy for her daughter to confide in her. In the two instances, the girl first reported to her teachers.

The mother said Maryanne disclosed to her that the perpetrator befriended girls in that neighbourhood.

“He would call girls to his car and drive around with them,” she claimed.

The mother further narrated that Maryanne would go to play with her friends in their former neighbourhood where the man runs a shop.

The mother of six claimed that on interrogating the girl further, she found out that the man would even take rides with children to his home in Tassia.

When asked if she ever noticed her daughter with money, the mother said she never got suspicious of where the money was coming from.

“My daughter is skilled in plaiting hair. She would say it is a commission earned from a salon. She was not truthful about the source of the money,” she said.

The parents now lay the burden of justice on Soweto Police Station. They say inaction by investigating officers had only worsened the situation and caused untold suffering to their child.

Daniel Odongo, founder of LifeGuard, a child-focused organisation in Kayole, weighed on the complaints about police reluctance to take action against the alleged perpetrator. 

Odongo is privy to numerous cases of defilement in Kayole that are collapsing on flimsy grounds. He said in Maryanne’s case, the police said the case had been dismissed in court.

“I had to go back to the doctor at Mama Lucy Hospital to find out if there was anything in their records that could have led to dismissal of the case. The doctor confirmed to me that the child was abused, and he is ready to testify in court,” said Odongo.

He wants officers running the gender desk at Soweto Police Station investigated.

“This is not the first time we as children protection officers are complaining about this particular police station,” he said. 

Maryanne is not alone in this suffering.

Another 17-year-old girl was defiled in Soweto and the case was reported at he same station and recorded under OB No 28/03/05/2024.

According to the girl’s mother, her daughter was defiled by a 50-year-old man who impregnated her but the case collapsed.

“The investigating officer told me that the case was dismissed in court because it was established that it was not the first time my daughter was engaging in sexual activities, and that there was a possibility the perpetrator was not responsible for the pregnancy,” said the mother.

“The officer told me that the girl had the ability to defend herself and that at her age, she could also accept or decline sexual advances,” the teary mother narrated.

Medical documents from Mama Lucy Hospital show that by the time her daughter was taken for medical examination, she was nine weeks pregnant, although during the interview, the mother claimed that the Form Three student was only one week pregnant.

“I want the perpetrator to be arrested and taken to court because he thinks nothing will be done to him. He is a landlord, and he has money to bribe people,” she said.

In another defilement case, a 16-year-old girl was defiled and impregnated by a relative in the same area. 

According to Odongo, the matter was reported at Masimba Police Post where the perpetrator was arrested but the case was later transferred to the Soweto Police Station.

“The perpetrator was released after three days and was never produced in court. We need to understand why he was released,” he said.

In a letter seen by The Standard, Odongo through his organisation, wrote a formal complaint to Inspector General of Police demanding the removal of officers at the police station. 

“We demand removal or reshuffle of Corporal Viviana at the Gender Desk because she has been arrogant and threatening to arrest people who are following these cases,” the letter reads.