Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen now says that a special team of detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Nairobi have been dispatched to probe the gruesome murder of a minor in Homa Bay County.
Speaking on Thursday afternoon during his visit to Kisumu County, Murkomen said the detectives were deployed under the instructions of the Inspector General of Police, Doglas Kanja, to expedite the murder probe.
He said that the DCI officers would work jointly with the local authorities in Homa Bay County to thoroughly investigate the matter and ensure the perpetrators of the heinous act are arrested.
"You are aware that there is a girl who was defiled and brutally murdered. The Police IG has already sent a team from the headquarters to work with the county team to make sure that we get to the bottom of the act that happened yesterday," Murkomen said.
The body of the 13-year-old was recovered on Wednesday, September 17, along the roadside after she went missing on Monday of the same week.
According to preliminary investigations, the girl was had signs of defilement before she was later killed, and acid was poured all over her body.
According to Mbita Sub-County Deputy County Commissioner Peter Mutiso, the minor was attacked shortly after parting ways with her classmates while heading home.
"The girl's parents reported to us that she did not return home from school on Monday," said Mutiso.
However, the residents claim that the deceased might have been killed elsewhere before her body was dumped along the road.
Meanwhile, during his visit to Kisumu, Murkomen raised concerns over the surging cases of sexual assault in the Nyanza region, mostly targeting women and children.
Addressing the press moments before attending a Jukwa la Usalama forum in the county, the CS said such cases had risen in the region by 31 per cent over the past year.
Murkomen said that the government would take stern action against those found culpable of sexually assaulting women and girls, adding that such heinous acts had been exacerbated by night parties and broken family ties.
"We want to ask churches, our chiefs and assistant chiefs and non-governmental organisations to raise great awareness through open forums and to ensure that these criminals are apprehended," Murkomen stated.
