A 30-year-old lady who admitted guilt to helping her two daughters undergo female genital mutilation (FGM) will be held in detention for two weeks while she awaits the court's decision.
On November 30, 2022, Nooparakuo Rinka admitted to subjecting her children, ages 13 and 11, to FGM at their house in the Naroosura neighbourhood of Narok South Sub County.
She admitted to having carried out the horrific conduct while the schools were out for the extended holiday when she appeared before Narok Senior Resident Magistrate Phyllis Shinyada.
Narok County Children Officer Pilot Khaemba told the court that the two children had been taken to Naroosura health centre where they were confirmed to have undergone FGM.
He said the arrest followed a tip off from the members of the public who informed the authority of the suspected incident of FGM in the homestead.
In her mitigation, Rinka begged for mercy, stating that she is the sole provider for five children—the two victims and the other three, who are seven, four, and one year old—and that they are entirely dependent on her to survive.
She testified before the court that her husband left her and relocated to a different farm where he married a new woman, leaving her to care for the five children on her alone.
Although the offender was a first-time offender, the state attorney prosecuting the case recognised the gravity of the situation and the need for severe punishment.
The woman's small children were placed in the hands of a children's officer who is a senior magistrate after the senior magistrate ordered that she be sent to Narok GK prison where she will remain while she awaits her judgement day.
The children’s officer confirmed that he had sent his officers to the woman’s Naroosura home to rescue the two minors who had been left behind by their mother.
