The Siaya County Police Commander (CPC), Francis Kooli has called for civic education on how to handle and preserve defilement evidence as a way of tackling rising sexual offences in the area.
Kooli lamented that incidents where parents and guardians of defiled children or even adults who are sexually molested interfering with evidence was high in the area, hence jeopardizing police efforts to nail suspects through water tight evidence.
The CPC was speaking at a Siaya hotel during a Child Protection Workshop on Thursday.
He defended the police from accusations that they have been frustrating efforts to bring the suspects to book by being compromised, adding that the law enforcement agents base their actions on reports by the parents, guardians or the complainants.
Kooli also blamed parents and guardians, adding that most victims of sexual violence fail to get justice after the parties are compromised.
“Some even interfere with evidence by failing to preserve the scenes or things like garments so that police can deduce evidence that can help nail the suspects,” he said.
Addressing the participants, Plan International’s Sponsorship Coordinator, Absalom Adewa said the event was organized to equip police with adequate child protection skills.
He said the law enforcers are always the first to be reached whenever the children were in trouble and in most cases assist in resolving child rights violation cases.
The workshop was also addressed by Bondo sub County Children’s Officer, Allan Onguka who said the government was keen on ensuring justice for all the children who find themselves in challenging situations.
By Philip Onyango
