Police in Narok town are holding a 75-year-old man who is alleged to have married a teenage girl at Fanaka area in the outskirts of Narok town.
Narok North Sub County Police Commander Frederic Siundu said they received information from members of the public that the elderly man was living with the young girl as his wife in his home at Fanaka.
He said when the police arrived at the homestead on Saturday; they found the man with his young wife outside the house where they were sunbathing.
“When they saw the police, the elderly man requested to get into the house to dress up before the arrest, however, when they went into the house they locked it from the inside to resist arrest,” said Siundu.
The action forced the police officers to break into the house where the two had locked themselves in separate rooms, he said.
The police boss said the two are currently being held at the station as police conclude investigations before they are prosecuted in court of law.
Teenage pregnancies are rampant in Narok County with statistics from the Kenya Demographic Health Survey (KDHS) showing that the county is leading nationally at 40 per cent way above the national average of 18 per cent.
The county health department data show that about 15, 500 girls visited various health centers in the county to seek for antenatal services in the year 2020 when schools were closed because of Covid-19.
The county education department also reported that over 800 girls reported back to school pregnant when schools were reopened for the second term in January.
Following the upward trend, Narok County Commissioner Evans Achoki asked the parents to be vigilant in guarding their girls during this long holiday.
He criticized parents for sending their girls to shopping centers to buy foodstuff at dusk where they are exposed to men who drag them into engaging in premature sex.
By Ann Salaton
