Couple charged for forcing pregnant 15-year-old daughter to undergo FGM in Narok

A couple was on Friday arraigned at a Narok court for allegedly subjecting their pregnant 15-year-old Grade 7 daughter to forced Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) contrary to the law.

Appearing before Senior Resident Magistrate Phylis Shinyanda, the two denied the offense they were accused of committing on July 15, 2023 in Olokurto area together with others not present in court.

The court heard that, on the said day at around midnight, the minor’s mother Mariciana Kishoiyan invited another woman to their house to perform the cut.

The minor testified in court, terming the ordeal as very painful, saying her mother had warned her that she would not be allowed to conceive without undergoing the cut as the society would not accept the child.

The girl narrated how her mother and the other woman forced her to remove her clothes before mutilating her private parts, leaving her bleeding and in great pain.

Benjamin Oswaro, the arresting officer from Olokurto Police Station, told the court he led the operation to arrest the girl’s father following a tip-off from a member of the public; her mother then presented herself to the station the following day.

The minor’s father, Dennis Kishoiyan, prayed for leniency to the court saying his three young children are unattended to and that his home is vulnerable.

Mr. Kishoiyan was released on a Ksh.30,000 cash bail or a Ksh.100,000 bond. The girl’s mother, on the other hand, was released on a free bond, and only directed to surrender her National Identity Card to the court.

The case will be mentioned on August 25 this year, even as the minor recuperates under the care of the Tasaru Ntomonok Initiative in collaboration with Equality Now Kenya care.