Police in Tharaka-Nithi County said they arrested a woman on Wednesday after her 12-year-old twin daughters were found hidden in Igambang’ombe Constituency following an alleged female genital mutilation case.
County Commissioner Muzne Abdullatif said her office acted after receiving a tip-off from officers working with Plan International, the non-governmental organisation, who reported that the two girls had undergone FGM. She said the mutilation had taken place two weeks earlier.
Senior Sergeant Patrick Munene said the procedure was allegedly carried out by a well-known woman in the area, who was said to have worked with the girls’ mother.
The mother denied naming the circumciser and defended her actions by linking them to a family curse she said had affected her before. She claimed she had already circumcised her other four daughters to avoid what she described as mental problems after ignoring the cut.
“My dead great-grandfather left a curse compelling all girls in his lineage to undergo the cut. If girls do not get the cut they go mad,” the woman said.
She also alleged that the twins had begun showing mental complications, but said they recovered immediately after being circumcised. “I have to choose between death and circumcising them,” she added.
The twins were taken to Chuka Referral Hospital, where they were treated before being moved to the child department as investigations continued. A clinical officer at the hospital, who asked not to be named, said one of the girls had a bacterial infection and was placed on medication.
The mother was being held at Chuka police station as the case remained under investigation.
