Hundreds of protests have took to the streets in Kenya to march for justice for a school girl who was brutally gang raped, and whose attackers were originally ‘punished’ for the crime by being made to cut grass.
Protesters issued a fresh call to action as they marched near the border with Uganda on Monday, just before the trial of one of the men accused of the rape of girl, who has been given the pseudonym ‘Liz’, opened in Busia today.
The 16-year-old victim was allegedly attacked, beaten and raped by a gang of men as she walked back from her grandfather’s funeral in western Kenya in June 2013, the Huffington Post reports.
She was found bleeding and unconscious in a deep sewage ditch and was left with a broken back and serious internal injuries.
The incident sparked worldwide outrage when three of the suspects were identified by Liz and handed to police – and were allegedly told to cut grass on a lawn before being released.
Shortly after Kenya’s Daily Nation broke the story, a campaign was started calling for her attackers to be brought to justice.
The campaign has received almost 1.8 million signatures. It called on police chief David Kimaiyo to “deliver justice” for Liz and for the police officers who “dismally failed to handle her case” to be held to account.
Police say they are continuing to investigate the five other alleged attackers.
