Police arrest suspect in census official’s rape in Kisumu

Police have arrested a man suspected to have been involved in the rape of a census enumerator in Maseno, Kisumu County last year.

A team of officers from Maseno and Luanda police stations traced and arrested the suspect on Friday evening at around 6pm in Luanda town.

In a statement by Inspector-General of Police Hillary Mutyambai which was posted on the Kenya National Police Service official Twitter page, the suspect was identified as 23-year-old Kevin Moti Opanywa alias Douglas Mwenda Nyaga.

FORENSIC INVESTIGATIONS

“The arrest followed forensic investigations with [the] support of the office of the Director of Criminal Investigations,” read the statement.

The victim was attacked at around 1.30am, moments after her supervisor dropped her off, some 100 meters away from her aunt’s house on the night of August 24 and 25, 2019.

The machete-wielding gang made away with her phone worth Sh19,000, a torch and a power bank. The gang did not take the gadgets she used for data entry.

ESCORTED VICTIM

After raping her, the gang escorted the victim to her aunt’s house then disappeared into the dark as she waited for the door to be opened.

She was later rushed to a nearby hospital where tests were run before she was discharged.

The woman was part of a team of enumerators deployed to conduct census at Maseno University.

There have been complains of insecurity around the university with several people being killed by attackers, prompting protests by the students.

In March last year, detectives in Kisumu arrested nine men suspected to have been behind a spate of robberies and rape cases targeting students of Maseno University.

Bhang, pangas and stolen chairs were recovered from the suspects.

The arrests come barely a week after a third year student at Maseno University was gang-raped by six men.