A 90-year-old woman from Utange area in Kisauni Sub-County, Mombasa County is calling for the arrest and prosecution of a man whom she says has raped and sired three children with her 21-year-old deaf-and-partially blind granddaughter.
The children -- all male -- are aged 3 months old, 4 years old and 6 years old.
The granny, a menial worker, says she suspects the children’s father is a neighbour, who found a way of sneaking into her house once she (granny) left for work.
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“Every time I leave for work, I usually ask the 4-year-old and 6-year-old boys to look after their mother who lives with visual and hearing disabilities. Later, when I return home and ask them if anyone passed by, they usually tell me: ‘yes, the uncle, who usually wears a mask covering his face, came and gave us money to go buy sweets and deep fried potatoes’,” the granny told K24 Digital.
The elderly woman says her granddaughter was first defiled and impregnated in 2014, when she (granny) relocated to Utange from Ganze, Kilifi County following the death of her husband.
“In just two months after settling in Utange, my granddaughter, who was 17 years old at the time, began falling ill often. When I took her to hospital, I was told that she was pregnant. Months later, she gave birth to her first child, who is now 6-years-old,” said the nonagenarian.
“The person who impregnated my grandchild has continued preying on her sexually without minding the state of poverty the girl and I are in. He has literally turned my granddaughter into his sex object. The girl now has three children, who I cannot singlehandedly take care of due to my old age and lack of finances.”
The granny says it is difficult to know who is behind the sexual exploitation of her grandchild because “he strikes immediately after the neighbours and I have left for work”.
“I have pleaded with the neighbours to help me lay a trap for this suspect. There are rumours that the man lives amongst us in the neighbourhood. There was a time one of the neighbours told me that the suspect was caught in the act. When I asked him to reveal the identity of the man, he (neighbour) refused,” said the granny.
According to the distressed woman, the sexual-exploiter is the father of all her three greatgrandchildren because “they (minors) all have like-for-like physical features”.
“I want the sexual abuse of my granddaughter to come to an end. I am old, and soon I will be unable to fend for her and her children. If the suspect continues to rape my grandchild, there is no doubt that she will conceive again -- for the fourth time,” said the nonagenarian.
The elderly woman says she has, on several occasions, reported the matter to the area chief, but he “often dismisses me”.
“The chief usually turns me away, saying that the case will go nowhere because my grandchild, who should be the prime complainant, cannot speak or write a formal statement.”
Terming the matter as “very unfortunate”, Kisauni Sub-County Police Commander Julius Kiragu said they have launched investigations into the elderly woman’s complaint.
“It is very unfortunate that a right-thinking man would take sexual advantage of the young woman because of her inability to see, speak or hear. We are treating these allegations seriously, and have launched investigations to unravel who is behind the deplorable act,” Kiragu told K24 Digital.
“After catching him, we will arraign him,” he added.
