In a classic case of juveniles gone rogue, a 17-year-old schoolgirl in Meru County allegedly stage-managed her own abduction in collaboration with her boyfriend with the intention of extorting Sh6 million from her parents.
While the motivation to con her parents of that kind of money and why she needed it was not immediately clear, detectives are interrogating several individuals and the family with the view of getting to the bottom of the matter.
The girl, as well as her accomplices, have been arrested by police.
The Form Three student at a school in Imenti Central was found relaxing in her teenage boyfriend’s house in Kaing’inyo village, Nthimbiri, about seven kilometers from Meru Town.
The student, together with her boyfriend and another boy, also 17, had orchestrated the fake abduction and claimed that she would be killed if the ransom was not paid.
Meru County criminal investigation officer Samuel Bett said the conspirators called the girl’s mother using a private number, and menacingly demanded the money.
The girl had ostensibly left her home in Igoji to seek clearance from another school in Imenti Central awaiting transfer to a school in Nairobi.
However, she hooked up with her boyfriend who claims to be an online forex trader.
The boyfriend then invited another friend who works at a car wash in Kianjuri in Imenti North where they hatched the plot to feign her kidnap and extort money from her parents.
The two boys are former schoolmates at a secondary school located near Majengo in Imenti North, where the girl’s boyfriend dropped out at Form Three.
After she failed to return home, the distraught mother filed a report of a missing child on September 24.
Later, she started receiving threatening restricted calls with information that her daughter was in the hands of abductors who would harm her.
In one of the chilling calls, one of the teenagers curtly told the mother that their next call would be “to inform her where to collect the body”.
Mr Bett said the family who were unaware of the ploy, made a frantic search for the girl and pleaded with the alleged kidnappers not to harm her.
He said detectives had been on a forensic trail of the “kidnappers” since the abduction claim was made, before zeroing in on the boyfriend’s homestead and pounced on the three as they relaxed.
Police said the teens were found in possession of 20 rolls of bhang. The delinquents are likely to be charged with conspiracy to defraud, being in possession of narcotics, among other charges according to police.
On Tuesday, Nkubu Senior Resident Magistrate Rose Ongira allowed the police to hold the three for five days pending the conclusion of their investigations.
The court ordered that the suspects be detained at Igoji Police Station while the case will be mentioned on October 7, 2024.
