FGM Ring Leader Arrested

Irene Cherop was arrested last after a fierce operation carried out in Kween district, and Police spokesperson Fred Enanga said Cherop was arrested with 18 others.

“We have 18 suspects including a 50-year old ring leader Irene Cherop; all from Kongilel village, Kaptum sub county in Kween district, for aiding and abetting FGM. The group was arrested after police foiled their plans to conduct FGM activities in the village,” Enanga said.

Enanga added: “There are also further efforts to trace for victims in three separate villages of Kwoser, where 07 girls where allegedly circumcised; and Binyiny where an additional seven girls are alleged to have been circumcised. The exercise has also attracted mothers who are circumcised immediately after giving birth.”

Further, according to Enanga, police has intensified operations against the vice.

“We have meanwhile established contacts with influential community members and other stakeholders to challenge the practice; as well as tasked teachers, health and social care professionals to report cases of FGM once established in the course of their duties in schools and hospitals,” he added.

He explained that recent cases of FGM stem from a concept of family honor.

“Only mothers who had undergone circumcision were deemed suitable to grace the male circumcision ceremony of their son’s in 2018. As a result mothers started allowing their daughters to undergo circumcision as a way of protecting their future,” he said.

Enanga however assured the public of police’s commitment to fighting FGM.

“The police is absolutely committed to fighting FGM, and do hope that the successful prosecution of the perpetrators including parents, husbands and victims who mutilate, will act as deterrents,” he said