How guardians tortured 10-year-old girl to death on Christmas eve
On the eve of Christmas Day as the world prepared to celebrate the birth of Jesus, like most children, 10-year old Janet Nambia, probably expected her guardians to spoil her with gifts to mark the day.
However, she lost her life after allegedly being tortured to death by her uncle and cousin who ordinarily would have been expected to protect her, following the death of her mother.
Investigations have revealed that before her brutal death, Nambia and her three siblings led a very miserable life.
On Thursday this week, her cousin Jackline Dalla Mumuli is expected to be charged before Makadara Senior Principal Magistrate Angelo Kithinji with the murder.
Following the parents’ separation in early 2016, the mother with whom they were staying died in 2017. Before that, she was allegedly defiled by her uncle.
Mother’s relatives After the mother died, the mother’s relatives insisted that they would take care of them, as the wish of their deceased mother. “After burial, the uncles refused to release the minors to me saying my late wife had instructed them to take care of the children.
They later alleged that my daughter had been defiled by one of my relatives in 2013,” the father Leonard Mark Owino told People Daily yesterday.
Owino tried in vain to get his children back and in 2018, he moved to the Milimani Children’s Court, CC1426/2018. The matter was last before the same court on December 15 when a doctor who filled the alleged defilement medical report testified.
The protracted case would see the minor being brutalised to death by the very people who resisted the efforts to have the children stay with the father.
Despite having suffered significant harm in the past, she would later suffer till her death. The father had accused his inlaw, Loyce Dalla Mumuli, one of the suspects in the murder and who is yet to be arrested, of intentionally delaying the matter before court.
“Had the matter been concluded early enough, my daughter would probably not have been killed,” the father said.
The uncle identified as Lameck Dallas and the cousin reported at Pangani police station that the deceased had been unwell for some time, suffering from sickle cell anaemia. and that on the material day, they took her to Radiant Hospital along Juja Road.
Booked at Pangani They however said she was pronounced dead on arrival. The matter was booked at Pangani without the family being interrogated. It was the staff at the City Mortuary that noticed that the girl had injuries on the head, neck and shoulders, an indication that she had seriously been assaulted.
The staff alerted the police who in turn informed their Pangani counterparts. It was later revealed that the last born was also attacked and seriously injured.
The last born, Blessing Odanga, aged 8 reported that he witnessed her sister being assaulted. “The boy reported that he was assaulted when he asked why her elder sister was being assaulted,” the father said.
The post-mortem was conducted on Tuesday last week and the pathologist confirmed that she had been assaulted by a blunt object. The key suspect, Loise Achieng Dalla who is the suspect’s mother and an aunt to the deceased, is still being sought in connection to the murder.
“Her last location was in Western at a place called Ndalu where she switched off her phone,” the investigating officer, Constable Mohammed Ibrahim told the court last week.
Latest reports indicate that she crossed over to Uganda. Managed to escape As the matter dragged in court, the children continued to suffer in the hands of their aunt.
The two eldest minors successfully managed to escape to their father pending judgement of the court case. The aunt at one point even decided to lock the eldest son indoors at a time he was supposed to join Form One early last year 2019.
The court later ordered them to enrol the boy in school. He however escaped to join the father who enrolled him in Form One.
“My first born is in Form One while his follower is in Form Two since the family had refused to allow the first born to join secondary school. He only later joined after the court compelled my in-laws,” Owino said. The Children’s Court was set to rule on the matter on January 28.
