A 30 year -old woman who was convicted on her own plea of guilty for aiding Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) to her two daughters will remain in custody for two weeks as she awaits the court’s verdict.
Nooparakuo Rinka confessed to have subjected her daughters aged 13 and 11 years old to FGM at their home in Naroosura area, Narok South Sub County on November 30, 2022.
She appeared before Narok Senior Resident Magistrate Phyllis Shinyada where she confessed to have committed the heinous act when the schools were closed for the long holiday.
Narok County Children Officer Pilot Khaemba told the court that the two children had been taken to Naroosura health centre where they were confirmed to have undergone FGM.
He said the arrest followed a tip off from the members of the public who informed the authority of the suspected incident of FGM in the homestead.
In her mitigation, Rinka pleaded for leniency saying she is the sole breadwinner of five children, the two victims and other three aged seven, four and one year old, who totally depend on her for survival.
She told the court that her husband abandoned her and moved to another homestead where he married another wife leaving her to raise the five children independently.
The state counsel prosecution side observed that the culprit was a first offender but noted the seriousness of the matter that requires stern punishment.
The senior magistrate ordered the woman to be taken to Narok GK prison where she will stay as she awaits her judgment day as her young children were put under the care of a children’s officer who is expected to commit them in a children’s home.
The children’s officer confirmed that he had sent his officers to the woman’s Naroosura home to rescue the two minors who had been left behind by their mother.
By Ann Salaton
