MACHAKOS,Kenya, May 30 – Detectives have rescued 38 women who were on the verge of being trafficked to the Middle Eastern nation of Saudi Arabia.
They were rescued by police on Friday evening in Kamulu near the common border of Machakos and Nairobi county.
On Sunday, a woman identified as Susan Mathenge, was arrested by police over the incident.
The suspect is believed to have been the women’s handler with detectives further revealing that she failed to provide proper documentation to prove that she was running a legitimate business.
The women who were being held at a rental house in the area had initially told police that they underwent and completed a training as part of their new job description in the Middle East.
“When we interrogated them they said they were from a training from Kenashi international limited, where they had been trained on home nursing, child care, home management,” Lukenya assistant county commissioner Elizabeth Karitu told Shahidi News.
The women were apprehended aboard two buses contracted to ferry them to an unknown destination , with one of the women saying, “we were going to Saudia Arabia.”
Attempts to reach the alleged manager proved futile, only for her at one point to pick police phone calls.
“She said that they were going to Saudi Arabia to work but when we asked for the documentation to prove that she failed to do so only for her to equally say that she was coming to the house. She however did not show,” Karitu said.
The women were drawn from at least 9 counties with 22 out of the 38 coming from Kilifi county.
The rest had travelled from Mombasa,Taita Taveta, Kwale, Makueni, Nakuru, Nandi, Kisii, and Vihiga.
Detectives said that women from coastal Kenya were being targeted during the operation.
“They were living in deplorable conditions, we noticed the there were no beddings or beds only mattresses on the ground. They were also clearly violating COVID-19 protocols.This is not a way to live,” the Assistant County Commissioner said.
Families of the women have already been contacted and notified as police seek to interrogate them further before they are released.
The suspect, Mathenge will remain in police custody before she is arraigned, as investigations continue.
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