Five men in court over kidnapping, defiling girl at Nairobi short-term rental for five days
A Milimani court on December 6 ordered five men aged between 22 and 23 to be remanded in custody for five days for questioning on charges of kidnapping, defilement and illegal confinement of a juvenile.
A Nairobi court has allowed police to detain five young men, aged between 22 and 23, for five days pending formal charges of abducting, defiling and illegally detaining a teenager for five days in a short-term rental.
Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Gilbert Shikwe gave police five days to detain the five men, identified as Patrick Kamau Muthee, Ian Chege, Ismail Mohamed Hamed, Adnan Hussein Jele and Abdirahman Mohammed Ahmed.
The magistrate gave the police five days after they asked the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to publish the names and photos of the suspects on its social media platforms to give more complainants a chance to come forward.
The magistrate said he had taken into consideration the recent incidents of abductions as reported in the media, adding that "the law enforcement agencies must be given enough time to get to the root of this matter".
Magistrate Shikwe granted the request by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Renson Ingonga, through prosecuting counsel
Judy Koech to have the five suspects, aged between 22 and 23, remanded in custody for questioning before they are formally charged.
Ms Koech had requested that the suspects be remanded in custody for 14 days but the magistrate reduced the period to five days.
"The nature of the investigations to be conducted can be completed within five working days," Mr Shikwe said.
He said the police needed time to record witness statements, conduct DNA samples and post the names of the suspects on the DCI's social media to attract more complainants, in addition to forwarding the file to the DPP's office for review and advice.
Ms Koech told the court that the juvenile disappeared from their Kilimani residence in Nairobi on December 7, 2024.
The teenager's mother filed a police report after her efforts to locate her daughter through relatives proved futile.
Ms Koech said police swung into action and found her locked up in a short-term accommodation in Nairobi West.
“Police managed to rescue the girl from a short-term rental at Western Suite Apartments in Nairobi West. They arrested all the five suspects whom they found in the apartment with the juvenile,” Ms Koech stated.
Ms Koech told the magistrate when police burst into the apartment "they found all the five suspects with the boy. They all appeared to be drunk."
The prosecutor told the magistrate that preliminary investigations have revealed that the juvenile had been defiled.
Mr Shikwe heard all the suspects were arrested and escorted to Kilimani Police Station where they were booked for kidnapping contrary to section 257 of the penal code, defilement contrary to section 8 (1)(9) of the sexual offences Act No 3 of 2006 and illegal confinement.
Ms Koech said the suspects could not be produced in court on December 12, 2024 since it was Jamhuri Day (a public holiday) and courts were closed.
The suspects will remain in custody until December 20, 2024 when they will be produced in court for further directions.
