Meru woman fined 8 sufurias of food for having sex with younger men
There was drama at Kiamuthanga village in Tigania East, Meru county, after irate women stormed the home of a 50-year-old woman whom they accused of luring young boys into bed.
Hundreds of women chanting traditional curse songs thronged the homestead of Ms Karegi Thiura to protest her actions.
The woman was then frog-marched to a field where a cursing ritual was conducted.
LYNCHING
The suspect had narrowly escaped lynching by young men who were threatening to strip and beat her up in public for disrespecting them.
Ms Thiura, who is said to be of “Miriti” age group, was fined for having sex with sons of women her age group, which is against the community’s norms.
Ms Monica Mutunyi, a resident, said the woman was ordered to pay eight sufurias of food comprising five sufurias of rice three sufurias of soup.
“The woman is a disgrace to the community and therefore an outcast. She is not allowed to talk to any woman in the village. Any woman found talking to her will be fined the same number of sufurias,” Ms Mutunyi explained
“The food is to be eaten by women during a cleansing ceremony. If she pays the fine of eight sufurias of food, she will be accepted back to the community,” she added.
Ms Mutunyi claimed the woman drinks alcohol before luring young men.
“We are shocked by the habit of an old woman sleeping with school going boys. When she is drunk she strips naked and entices youths to have sex with her,” she claimed.
ANNOUNCING NAMES OF LOVERS
Women were irked by her wayward habits after she started announcing in public all the young men she had slept with.
“She has been threatening that she has spread an unknown disease to our children. She has been announcing to the public those she has slept with. It is a shame to us women,” said one of the protesters.
The women claimed that Ms Thiura is a member of a gang of three women who indulge in alcohol late at night before turning to the orgies.
They said unscrupulous alcohol dealers have turned to selling illicit brews late at night to escape arrest.
Mr David Mutuma, 25, said the woman approaches young men asking for sexual favours when she is drunk.
GANG RAPED
But in defense, Ms Thiura argued that young men have been taking advantage of her drunkenness to rape her.
“A boy whom l knew very well because we used to drink together led his colleagues to rape me. Yet the community is accusing me of luring the rapists,” protested Thiura.
She alleged that she was gang raped by five young men last week.
Village elders called for more time to investigate the allegations, terming them a disgrace to the community.