Directorate of Criminal Investigations(DCI) Kenya lauded a Mombasa-based matatu conductor for saving a teenage girl from a sexual predator.
According to a series of tweets by DCI, the girl boarded the bus at Machakos County Junction and was heading to Mombasa.
The girl lied to the conductor that she was going to Mombasa to meet her alleged brother in Mariakani. She, however, only had Ksh.500 of the Ksh.1500 fare which was to be cleared by her ‘brother’ before they would get to Mtito Andei.
Along the way, conductor, who works for Executive Bus Service plying the Nairobi-Mombasa route, phoned the brother and lied to him that they were in Mariakani.
The man asked the conductor to send the girl to Kaloleni on motorbike after which he would clear the remaining amount of the fare.
Concerned by the girl's safety, he decided to proceed with her to Mombasa. With the intervention of a pastor seated next to the girl, the girl admitted that he was not her brother as she earlier stated.
She intimated that the man, with whom she established contact on Facebook, asked her to go to Mombasa. The man arrived at the bus service offices at around 8 p.m.
The girl failed to recognise the man stating that he did not resemble the man on the Facebook profile.
The bus company provided accommodation for the now shocked girl and facilitated transport back to Machakos Junction the next day.
Barely a day after, a 17-year-old girl who boarded a bus at Matuu heading to Mombasa to meet a man not known to her was rescued.
DCI stated that in the past month, there has been an increase in cases of girls and women been abducted for slavery and sexual exploitation.
Detectives from the Anti Human Trafficking and Child Protection Unit are tracking the suspects.
The agency has called on parents to monitor their children’s online activity and the people they interact with.
DCI have provided an anonymous toll free line: 0800 722 203 for anyone with information on the cases to contact them.
