A Machakos court has ordered a mental assessment at the Machakos Level Five Hospital for a 15-year-old girl who is alleged to have murdered a fellow teenager over a boyfriend.
Machakos High Court Deputy Registrar Eric Onalo also directed the Class Eight girl to be taken to the Machakos Children Rescue Center awaiting the start of the case on December 1 when she will have charges read before her.
The ruling followed a request by Investigating Officer Catherine Kinoti who requested the court to grant the prosecution more time to tie up loose ends in the case that left many residents of Mwala Sub-County in shock.
The suspect was arrested on Saturday after she allegedly strangled another girl aged 14 over what the detective suspect is a love triangle.
On the same day, the suspect who is a pupil at Kaitha Primary School in Wamunyu location, led police to the scene of the crime where a brown rope that the girl is suspected to have used in committing the offense was found.
Police have also arrested the boy at the center of the love triangle to help in carrying out the investigations.
The body of the deceased is said to have been undressed first to create the impression that the victim was sexually assaulted before being killed.
Detectives believe the incident took place on November 16.
“The suspect pointed out the murder weapon, a strong rope, brown in colour which was about 150m away from the crime scene. The rope was hidden under dry thorny bushes after she used it to strangle the deceased,” read the police statement.
On Tuesday, Lower Eastern Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya (CIPK) chairman Sheikh Anas Ali Abdala attributed the recent rise in teenage delinquencies to poor parenting and adoption of western ideologies.
He said many parents have abandoned the role of bringing up their children to social media platforms where the young ones can easily access explicit pornographic materials and learn other antisocial behaviors such as alcoholism and substance abuse.
“Since the closure of madrassa and Sunday school classes due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many children have resorted to the internet and the social media as a pass time activity in order to kill time now that they are not in school,” he said.
The cleric was reacting to the rounding up of 44 children aged between 11 and 17 years by the police in a residential house in Mountain View Estate in Nairobi over the weekend.
The children, who were later taken to the Kabete Police Station for questioning, are believed to have been indulging in a night of orgy disguised as a birthday party.
Some of the children are said to have travelled from as far as Kericho and Machakos counties to attend the party.
Police have already arrested two people, including a 41-year-old woman believed to be the owner of the premises.
Detectives also recovered dozens of empty beer bottles, used condoms and marijuana stubs which the revelers are believed to have been taking.
Barely 24 hours later, another 40 teenagers were arrested by police in separate drinking entertainment joints in Samburu and Bungoma counties.
Twenty of them were rounded up in Maralal town on Wednesday after being found in a rented house engaging in wild partying.
They included five girls and 15 boys aged between 15 and 17 years old.
In Bungoma, Police apprehended the second batch of 21 teenagers aged between 11 and 16 years in a restaurant in Webuye town on Sunday evening.
