A wife inheritor at Korayo Sub-Location in Homa-Bay County has allegedly defiled and murdered his foster daughter after picking a quarrel with his new wife over who should stay with the girl.
The body of the seven year old Vivian Akinyi who was an ECD pupil at Mariwa Primary School was found dumped in a thicket near their home with a rope tied around her neck after she went missing on Saturday.
The concerned residents claimed that the minor went to a nearby church with her mother on Saturday morning and later left the church at around mid-day from where she disappeared to an unknown destination.
Confirming the incident to KNA, the Assistant Chief Korayo Sub Location Aloice Odhiambo said that there was suspicion that the minor was defiled and strangled to death by the father after the dispute on who should take care of the girl.
Odhiambo added that the mother’s effort to trace the whereabouts of her missing daughter bore no fruit but with the help of other villagers, her lifeless body was found hidden in a sisal plant with the rope tied around her neck as a disguise that she committed suicide.
Odhiambo said that the minor could have been defiled and killed elsewhere by the father who later took her body and dumped it near their home.
He said that their preliminary investigations revealed that the minor was first defiled by the suspect who later killed her. He added that they had launched a manhunt in which they arrested two suspects (the father and a labourer).
The labourer was arrested alongside the father because he used to be close to the deceased girl even though they were not relatives. Both suspects will be charged if they are found to have committed the heinous act.
The body of the deceased has been moved to Homa Bay County Teaching and Referral Hospital Mortuary awaiting postmortem.
By Natasha Kanisa and Davis Langat
