A sorrowful mood engulfed Mahigaini village in Kirinyaga County Friday after a four-year-old girl was found killed and dumped in a rice canal.
It is suspected that the minor was strangled elsewhere and her body dumped in the rice field to cover up evidence.
She had bruises on her neck which point to the brutal strangulation by an unknown killer for reasons which are yet to be established.
SHOCKED VILLAGERS
The slain victim was discovered by a tomato farmer who had gone to water her crop in the morning.
On seeing the victim, the farmer raised an alarm, attracting scores of villagers.
Some of the villagers were overwhelmed by emotion and wept on seeing the body of the innocent girl dumped in the canal.
Mr Joseph Murimi, a local, said he rushed to the scene immediately he heard that the body of a girl had been spotted.
“I was shocked to see the body of the girl. She could not be identified and we suspect she was murdered far away and ferried to our village,” Mr Murimi said.
The villagers called on the police to get to the bottom of the matter and bring the culprits to book.
“Those who committed the crime should be pursued and apprehended for prosecution,” added Mr Murimi.
Police moved the body of the victim to Kerugoya Referral Hospital mortuary.
Mwea East police boss Mr John Onditi said investigation has been opened into the death of the minor.
The killing comes barely three weeks after another girl of the same age was raped and murdered in Ngariama, Gichugu Constituency.
Police are yet to arrest the killer of the girl whose uncle was also hacked to death last year and dumped in a hole at a local coffee factory.