Kidnapped girl’s family troubled, appeals for help

By Lonah Kibet

NAIROBI, KENYA: Parents of a nine-year-old girl are troubled after two weeks of searching for their only daughter believed to have been kidnapped by an unknown assailant.

Peter Kimita the missing girl’s father, is physically disabled and has had to rely on relatives and neighbours to help him and his wife search for her. Delvin Kimita was last seen by her parents on January 23, this year, when she left for school with her friends.

“She took breakfast and rushed to school with her friends. That was the last time I saw my only daughter,” said Kimita. He received the dreadful call from her teacher at Park Road Primary School in Ziwani that his daughter had been abducted by an unidentified male. She is a Standard Four pupil.

Their neighbour’s daughter was with her at the time of abduction and told them that the man approached them, grabbed Delvin’s hand and told her he was going to buy her Standard Four textbooks.

“Msichana wa jirani aliyekuwa anaenda shule na mtoto wetu alituambia kuna mtu aliyekuja na kumvuta Delvin akimuambia atamnunulia vitabu vya darasa lake, lakini Delvin alikataa. Huyu mtu alikuwa na nguvu na aliweza kumvuta Delvin. (My neighbour’s daughter was going to school with our daughter. She told us that a man approached them and grabbed my daughter’s hand and told her he was going to buy her Standard Four books. Our daughter resisted but the man was too strong for her and he managed to take her with him) said Kimita.

Not contacted

After several hours of a frantic but unsuccessful search, they reported the incident at Pangani Police Station where Charles Wanjala, an uncle to the kidnapped girl, recorded a statement. Two weeks later, the girl has not been found and the family has not been contacted for any demands or ransom.

“We are out of options and we really need your help. Our daughter is very young and we don’t know where she is,” said the missing girl’s father. She is an only daughter to Kimita and his wife Rhoda Nekesa and has a six-year-old brother who keeps asking where his sister is. Delvin speaks Luhya, English and Kiswahili. Her kidnapper is only identified as male.

Delvin is dark in complexion and was last seen wearing Park Road Primary School uniform, a white blouse and a plain strapped light blue dress, on her way to the school. An officer at the station confirmed that the incident was reported to them. The family is appealing to the public to contact them if they have any information on the whereabouts of their daughter.

Father’s mobile number: 0712813519

Mother’s mobile number: 0718703844.