A distraught mother has recalled the last moments before her three-year-old daughter went missing, only to be found dead less than 24 hours later in Maragua, Murang'a County.
Florence Wanjiku is still coming to terms with the reality of losing her child, who was alive as recently as Sunday, February 9.
In a harrowing account of the last moments before losing her child, Wanjiku narrated that the day started like any other, with her child playing with her peers. Nothing was out of the ordinary at the time.
According to the mother, the child went missing in a split second in the presence of her friends who were playing outdoors.
"I last saw her by the road. She was playing with her friends," Wanjiku recounted. "When I went to check on her the second time, she was not there. I tried asking her friends about her whereabouts but they also had no idea."
Wanjiku explained that because her daughter's friends were also quite young, none of them could clearly explain what had happened to her, as they were uncertain whether she had run away or been taken by someone.
Upon discovering the child was missing, a frantic search began with members of the public joining the efforts to find her. Long hours of searching in vain eventually prompted Wanjiku to inform authorities of her plight.
After reporting the incident at Maragua Police Station, she was informed that she had to wait 24 hours to file a missing persons report.
Hours after authorities were involved, Wanjiku's worst fears were confirmed around 11 am on Monday, February 10, as the body of a little girl was positively identified as her daughter. The body was found dumped in a nearby swamp.
"From the looks of things, it is obvious my daughter was abused," Wanjiku went on, adding that the deceased also appeared to have been subjected to torture before her tragic death.
Protests have since emerged in the dusty Mjini estate in Maragua town, with residents calling on authorities to hasten their investigations on the matter.
Further, local residents believe the three-year-old's life would have been saved had the police involved themselves in a door-to-door search immediately after they learnt of the mother's plight.
