Police have launched a manhunt for 10 men accused of robbery and gang raping victims in Nyamira County in an incident that has shocked residents in Kenya.
In a statement by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on Thursday, a female MCA and minister of Nyamira County were among the victims.
A school principal and police officer were also attacked by the gang of 10.
Detectives indicate that one of the suspects was arrested and will be grilled to aid in the investigations.
According to the report by the agency, the gang took siege of one homestead for close to seven hours.
“After subduing the victims with beatings and death threats, members of the gang who were armed with a pistol, machetes and other crude weapons forced themselves into three of the women in turns, before escaping with their loot after 7hrs of inflicting untold terror and trauma on the hostages. Reportedly, the incident happened from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. on the fateful night,” read the statement in part.
“Upon receiving the information, all the security agencies in the county were mobilized and investigations were launched on October 24. The victims were attended in various hospitals in the county and samples were taken from the sexually abused victims.”
The gang was also reported to have taken several assorted mobile phones, and over Ksh130,000 in cash.
Police added that the gang also confiscated an unknown number of ATM cards and proceeded to withdraw money from the bank accounts. The amount of money withdrawn remains unknown.
“Backed up by crime research detectives and the crime scene support teams who processed the scene for crucial leads, the investigating team placed a suspected ring leader at the scene before tracking him down in Kondele, Kisumu County,” DCI noted.
“The suspect was escorted to Nyamira County HQS where an identification parade was conducted. The victims positively identified him before detectives made a miscellaneous application to detain him for interrogation.”