Two suspects were on Thursday, December 29, arrested for allegedly giving a 3-year-old boy alcohol at a Christmas party in Nairobi.
Edward Ndirangu Muhuka, aged 22, and Abdulmajid Hassan Arafat, 19, were picked from their slumber in Thindigua and Pangani estates respectively by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigation’s Child Protection Unit after a viral video showing one of the suspects offering scotch whiskey to the minor at a party they attended on December 25.
According to the DCI, the detectives swung into action after the disturbing video was shared by former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko on his online platforms.
“Shocked netizens including detectives monitoring online activities, who escalated the information to undercover sleuths specialised in hunting down child offenders,” DCI said.
“The detectives based at the DCI Academy in South B conducted a comprehensive analysis using their state-of-the-art software for tracking online child offenders and unmasked the identity of the suspects.”
GATECRASHERS WHO FED 3-YEAR-OLD WITH ALCOHOL AT A CHRISTMAS PARTY ARRESTED
— DCI KENYA (@DCI_Kenya) December 29, 2022
Following a distasteful video clip that has been doing rounds in sections of the media showing an adult giving scotch whiskey to a 3-year-old baby, detectives from DCI’s Child Protection Unit have pic.twitter.com/HZLw0m9TCK
The sleuths established that the two youthful men had gatecrashed at a Christmas party where their mutual friend had been invited and went on to “outstay their welcome, and behaved savagely after the level of kindness that had been extended to them”.
Apparently, the little boy’s mother had retired to bed early after the festivities and left the minor playing with the guests only to be woken up at 2:00 am by concerned friends who saw the video trending on social media.
“The little baby’s mother who retired to bed early after taking care of her guests was shocked after being woken up at 2am by concerned friends, who saw the trending videotape and shared with her,” DCI added.
Ndirangu and Hassan were arraigned at the Kiambu Law Courts on Thursday where the first accused pleaded guilty and the second accused not guilty to charges of failing to protect a child from drugs and substance abuse contrary to section 24 (1) (a) as read with section 24 (2) of the Children Act No. 29 of 2022.
The case will be mentioned on January 18, 2023, for the facts to be read to the first accused and a hearing date to be set.
Meanwhile, the second accused was freed on a Ksh200,000 bond and a surety of a similar amount.
Thanking Kenyans on social media for their vigilance DCI said: “The Directorate of Criminal Investigations thanks netizens for the numerous notifications regarding this case, and also congratulates the DCI Child protection detectives for a job well done.”
