Bomet County Commissioner Mr. Geoffrey Omoding has warned parents in the region against trying to hide cases of defilement saying that they will be arrested and prosecuted.
Speaking at Sigor in Chepalungu Sub County during Jamhuri Day celebrations, the county commissioner said cases of defilement and rape going unreported were on the rise.
He said security agencies in the county were finding it hard to prosecute suspects because of parents resorting to traditional ways of solving cases.
“The delay in reporting cases was the main cause of police failing to successfully prosecute suspects,” he said.
Omonding warned parents that those who will fail to report cases will be treated as accomplices in the crime. “To win this war, we will now have to go for parents hiding such crimes and prosecute them,” he said.
The commissioner at the same time raised concern over early pregnancies and
singled Konoin sub county where some 25 candidates sat national exams while pregnant as the worst hit.
He directed the children department to deploy officers to sub counties to help in curbing cases of child abuse.
“We are now embarking on sensitization to help in reducing the child abuse cases,” Omonding added.
Bomet county commander Naomi Ichami said defilement cases in the region had hit worrying levels saying at least five cases are reported daily.
“We are concerned about the rising cases and surprisingly parents of victims are playing a role in the crime,” said Ichami.
On her part Bomet Governor Joyce Laboso said there was need to take the war to men.
She said some men have become so inhumane and resorted to taking advantage of girls as young as seven years.
“What does a right thinking man see in a girl as young as seven years? Those must be questionable people who must be taken to task,” she said.
By Joseph Obwocha
