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Landlady in trouble for renting house to minors

By ARTHUR SITUMA January 29th, 2014 2 min read

Police are investigating a landlady who allegedly leased a house to four minors fleeing from home.

The woman would be arrested and questioned on the January 19 incident, said Dagoretti police boss Mathew Guyo.

The four girls aged between 12 and 15, all pupils of Embakasi Primary School ran away from their parents’ homes after stealing Sh4,400 and two mobile phones.

Ann Njeri, mother of one of the children recalled: “On Sunday January 12, I punished my 14-year-old daughter and my sister who is 12 after I got a report of their misbehaviour.

I warned them against the company of their ill-mannered friends and advised them to concentrate on their studies.”

She said the girls then roped in two of their close friends from Mradi estate in Embakasi into their plans to flee.

The girls confessed that they had initially planned to escape to Kayole before settling for Dagoretti, where they used part of the stolen money – Sh2,500 – to rent a room.

They lied to the landlady that they had been sent by their aunt to clean up the room before she moved in later in the evening.

The landlady fell for the trick and allowed them into the house. When night fell, she offered them bedding until the next morning.

The following day the landlady and her neighbour helped the two girls, aged 15 and 14, to secure jobs after they lied that they could not reach their aunt on phone.

One was employed as a hair dresser and the other a waitress.

It is then that the landlady smelt a rat and alerted the local village elder who in turn reported the matter to the chief.

The minors were later picked up and taken to the Dagoretti Children’s Department office who helped trace their parents after interrogating the girls.

The girls initially lied to the Children’s Officers that their parents were dead but later told the truth.

The children were later taken to the Nairobi Women’s Hospital for medical checkups and counselling before being released back to their parents.