Four arrested over FGM practice on eight girls in Elgeyo Marakwet

Four people including a circumciser were arrested for practicing Female Genital Mutilation in a village in Embobut, Elgeyo Marakwet County.

This followed an incident where eight girls had undergone the FGM, which is banned by the law.

A team staged an operation in Kapchebao and Embolot and confirmed the eight girls had been subjected to the practice a week ago and were recovering.

The victims included women aged 25, 23, 18 and girls aged 16 and 14, police said.

They were taken to a local hospital where they were attended to and discharged. Their parents and the circumciser were later arrested pending arraignment.’

The trend, which is still popular in the area and some places is harmful practice involving partial or total removal of female genitalia, with Kenya’s 2011 Act being a strong example, criminalizing perpetrators (including medical staff) and those who aid it, setting penalties like imprisonment, and establishing oversight bodies like the Anti-FGM Board to enforce these laws, though enforcement faces challenges due to deep-rooted cultural norms.

International human rights law also provides a basis for eliminating FGM, recognizing it as a violation of women’s rights, with many nations adopting legislation to comply.

The law outlines severe penalties, including life imprisonment for FGM-related deaths, while promoting public awareness and alternative rites of passage to foster cultural change.

Despite the severe punishment set, the practice is still rampant in many places.

And four suspects were arrested for murder after they killed a man in a mob lynching incident in Gaitu, Imenti, Meru County. The four were presented before court on Monday December 29 where police were granted 30 days to hold them pending an investigation. Police say mob lynching is criminal and want suspects to be surrendered to authorities for action.