Kenyan cops arrest 5 boys for alleged rape

Nairobi - Kenyan police have arrested five boys as authorities probe the alleged rape of as many as 10 schoolgirls this week in central Kenya, officials said on Thursday.

Central Province police commander Tom Mutisya Ngesa said the suspects were arrested on Wednesday after being identified by several victims who were allegedly assaulted during an overnight protest against school management.

"We arrested five boys who were named by three girls to be the alleged rapists," Mutisya told AFP by phone from the regional capital of Nyeri.

"We are still carrying out further investigations into this horrific incident."

"We are going to take them to court after we carry out forensics to determine who raped who," he said, adding that the detainees were all teenage high school students.

Police said the girls were raped late Sunday when about 700 students of Kangubiri High School in Nyeri, about 100km north of the capital, protested outside the school against the school administration.

Mutisya said police were questioning school officials and watchmen over the incident that has sparked howls of protest across the east African nation, where sexual offences against women, particularly minors, are on the increase.

The Kenya National Commission of Human Rights (KNCHR) has called for the suspension of the school principal and urged the formation of a panel to investigate the incident.

Meanwhile, in the wake of the assaults, Kenya's 18 female national lawmakers joined President Mwai Kibaki in urging parliament to pass a Sexual Offences Bill that increases penalties for such crimes.

"We are fast becoming a nation of dangerous criminals," they said in a joint statement. "We are too casual in our response even in terms of protecting our children and this trend must change now."

At least half of all Kenyan women have experienced sexual related violence since the age of 15, with close family members among the perpetrators, according to a demographic health survey carried out in 2003. - Sapa-AFP