A 17-year-old girl from Ilbissil location in Kajiado Central sub-county outwitted her father’s bid to marry her off to an elderly man after running for safety to a rescue centre.
The girl was rescued by the area chief David Lenoti Letene after she informed him of her father’s diabolical plans.
She completed her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education(KCSE) last year and on Sunday last week learnt that her father was planning to marry her off to a 50-year-old man and tried to plead with him to let her continue with her education to no avail.
When her pleas fell on deaf ears, she ran away from their home on Tuesday to a relative’s home in Meto location, a few kilometres away.
Her father, who had lost most of his cows to the biting drought was determined to marry her off for a six-cow bride price and pursued her but the girl managed to escape on Wednesday evening from the home where she had sought refuge and braved the night’s cold and lurking danger in the nearby wilderness.
On Thursday, a relative was able to rescue her and took her to her uncle’s home in Isinya Sub County but the uncle dutifully informed her father of her whereabouts and he came to take her back to their Ilbissil home in preparation for the marriage.
