NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 7- Rogue Boda Boda riders captured in a viral video sexually assaulting a woman in Nairobi also stole her phone and Sh130,000, Shahidi News has established.
The despicable incident, which went viral a few hours to International Women’s Day, occurred on March 4.
The victim was driving from Gigiri to Parklands, but on reaching Barabara Tano, got involved in a road accident.
It was involving a Boda Boda operator.
According to police and witnesses, she was accosted by the rogue Boda Boda riders, “as she drove to safety.”
The victim, police said, reported that some of the riders “inserted fingers in her private part while others touched her breasts.”
The gang also stripped off her clothes. The incident happened at about 5.30pm.
Already, police say they have identified some of the attackers, who are set to be arrested and arraigned.
National Police Spokesperson Bruno Shioso said investigations were already underway while promising swift, legal action against the perpetrators.
“The matter is under active investigations. We have since identified some of the perpetrators and they will be presented before a court of law upon completion of investigations,” Shioso said.
The incident led to a major outcry among various stakeholders and Kenyans on Twitter, who called for action.
Representative of the National Police Service Commission at the Salary Remuneration Commission Wangui Muchiri has called on police to act fast and apprehend those who were involved.
In a Tweet, the former Interior Ministry spokesperson termed the incident as “disturbing and unacceptable.”
Nairobi Governor Anne Kananu expressed her shock, saying “we have failed as a society if such crimes are allowed to go unpunished.”
“I have watched the clip of the Boda Boda operators harassing a lady at Forest Road. I am horrified to death and I can’t believe the kind of trauma that lady had to go through.”
Previous efforts to streamline the chaotic sector, which employs more than 2 million people, have been futile.
Such efforts have been led by Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiangi and Ps Karanja Kibicho.
Police statistics show thugs have also resulted in using Boda boda’s while executing their evil schemes.
For example, a man was over the weekend killed in Juja by men who were riding a motorcycle. He was shot dead in what now has become a common trend.
Activist Boniface Mwangi, without making reference to the Forest Road incident, said Boda Boda (operators), “are the biggest threat to national security, worse than terrorism.”
He added that “their everyday recklessness on the road causes accidents that lead to loss of limbs and lives. Some of them are in gangs that rob, maim and even kill.
They need to be regulated before it is too late.”
Lobby group Usikimye urged the government to crack down on the rogue operators and restore law and order in the way they operate.
“We have as a country allowed Boda Bodas to be a law unto themselves. Her screams of terror and fear are telling a story of how we invalidate women,” the lobby group said in a Tweet.
“The fact that the society is okay with sharing this video, redistributing trauma…”
The incident comes a few hours to the World’s International Women’s Day.
There have been increased efforts by state and non-state actors to curb the vice of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in the country.
Such cases are said to be on the rise during an electioneering period.
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