Police in Thika have arrested three women for subjecting their four daughters to undergo female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
The circumcised girls, aged between nine and 12 years were taken from the house they had been locked up in Majengo estate to the Thika Level Five Hospital for treatment.
The Thika West Sub County Police Commander (SCPC), Beatrice Kiraguri said the cut was carried out on Friday night by an old woman from the town’s Kiandutu slums, who is still at large.
Kiraguri said they received information from the public that some girls had been detained in a house at the estate, and swung into action.
“We found the girls locked in the house and their mothers guarding outside. After interrogating them, they informed that they were forced by their parents to undergo the cut,” she told the press on Tuesday.
The women have been detained at the Thika police station, waiting to be charged.
Kiraguri said the practice will not be condoned in the town and that anyone found will face the full wrath of the law.
She said they had launched a manhunt for the circumciser and promised that she will soon be apprehended.
Local residents said the incident was the first to be reported in the estate and lauded the police for the swift action.
Last week, President Uhuru Kenyatta warned those who practice FGM that they will be dealt with firmly.
He said FGM was an archaic cultural practice that should be eradicated completely.
By Muoki Charles
