The gang rape of a year-old Kenyan schoolgirl β and the lack of punishment given to the alleged rapists β has sparked outrage in the country and beyond. The attack was so violent it left the girl in a wheelchair with a severe back injury. She identified some of her attackers, who police apprehended β only to let go after they were ordered to cut the lawn at the police station. Several hundred marchers stopped traffic on Nairobi's Central Kenyatta Street on Thursday morning, carrying cardboard boxes representing the more than 1.
Ngozi Nwosu, an activist from Nigeria joining the march, says she was struck by how many Kenyan men were marching. Kenya is doing well in terms of standing up against injustice. On June 24, Liz was walking home from her grandfather's funeral , when she was ambushed by six men, one age 17, the others She was beaten, gang raped and dumped in a pit latrine.
But when she identified three of her attackers to the police, their only punishment was to cut grass around the police station. The case lay idle for months. Liz's mother had to lease the family farm to afford the hospital. Then a newspaper reporter picked up the story; the activism that followed showcased a Kenya that is increasingly wired and middle class.
Kenyans used Twitter and Facebook to bring media attention to the case. Ordinary Kenyans donated thousands of dollars through mobile money-transfer campaigns to pay for Liz's care.
Doctors say Liz will be able to walk again next month, thanks to back surgery. The prosecution and eventual punishment need to happen. Ali paints a picture of two Kenyas: one where enough people have the education and means to help a girl like Liz, and the other that is rife with corrupt institutions that she says are shielding the perpetrators. Kenya has strict sexual violence laws. Marcher Ruth Ojiambo Ocheing, executive director of Isis Wicce in Uganda, says these kinds of laws, pushed by Western governments, are on the books in many African countries but they mean nothing.
