A 5-year-old kindergarten girl who went missing on Thursday on returning from school has been found murdered in Nyeri.
The girl from Mathira’s Kianjogu village was raped and murdered before her body was dumped at a house in the neighborhood, police said on Friday.
Marks on victim identified as Blessing Gathigia were consistent with rape.
The girl’s mother, Damaris Wairimu, said her daughter came from school at 3 pm and changed her uniform before walking out of the house.
“My daughter came from school as usual after changing her uniform she proceeded for a walk. This is the time she vanished,” said Wairimu.
She said that she contacted her relatives but the girl was nowhere to be found until on a search party in the morning led to the discovery of the body.
Catherine Wachira, a neighbor, said they discovered the body inside an abandoned house as they intensified a search for the missing girl.
“I was searching for this child when all of sudden I developed some fear on checking inside this house I saw her body placed at a corner,” he recalled.
Wachira said it was strange that the scene was just metres from the girl’s home.
Police from Karatina opened a probe on the murder even as irate villagers vowed to hunt down the perpetrator.
The girl’s body was taken to a Karatina Hospital Mortuary awaiting a postmortem to establish the cause of death.
Crime scene detectives also keen to pick up additional evidence that could lead to the arrest of the perpetrator.
