Maragua residents hold demos after 3-year-old girl defiled, body found dumped near river

Residents of Maragua town in Murang'a County have held a series of protests to express their dissatisfaction regarding the rise in insecurity incidents. 

The latest incident involved the defilement and murder of a three-year-old girl.

The  residents have demanded that security agencies carry out investigations and apprehend the culprit.

The is said to have been playing outside the family's rented house with other children, before going missing and  her mother only realised this when she called out for her daughter with no response. 

Neighbours helped search for the girl and her body was discovered on Monday inside a water well near Githanja River.

The body bore injuries and her clothes were stained with blood.

Locals protested over rising cases of defilement and theft, calling for beefing up of security.

Ann Wanjiku, a resident, said, "We are asking ourselves what the security agencies are doing if such an incident can happen under their watch as they say they conduct patrols throughout the day. Action needs to be taken and the perpetrator brought to book."

Eunice Njeri, another local, said, "We have been left to our own devices because we are told there is security but there is no action being taken."