Reportedly, 10 girls aged 8 to 13 years surrendered to Tangulbei boarding primary school immediately the schools opened in January.
“We had received 10 girls who escaped the cut last term, so doubling up the number now to 20” the school head teacher Musa Terter told the Star on Tuesday.
Terter however said the young girls were traditionally being imposed by their parent to look after livestock so none of them had gone to school, “So despite their age we had to place all of them in class one” He said
He said they also helped to shave their locally plaited hair that had been smeared with soil, locally known as ‘Munyan’.
Three other girls were rescued at the nearby Kadogoi primary school according to the head teacher Dorcas Yatich, totaling to 23 girls.
The girls were rescued by Tangulebei Women Network Mary Kuket with the help of area chiefs and Tiaty East Deputy County Commissioner Reuben Ratemo.
They hail from Karoiwo, Kabalabata, Kakaryakales, Kasitet, Kasokon, Bombo and Korolwo villagages.
Ratemo said although some parents and guardians were still following up threatening to take back the girls, “but they are in safe custody at Tangulebei boarding primary” He Said, warning the culprils that they will be arrested and face full force of the law.
He said they dug into their pockets to buy the girls school uniform saying the only pending challenge is mattresses, appealing to well-wishers to chip in with humanitarian help.
“The number is also growing every day and so we would request for a rescue centre in Tiaty so the girls escaping fgm could run to for their safety” said Ratemo.
Kuket said thousands of girls are currently facing the cut in pokot community as they await early marriage.
“But due to the frequent media highlights and the government harsh warnings, they have slowed down the vice” She said
Furthermore, she said while being interviewed some girls said they were being threatened by their parents and brothers if they resisted joining their mates to be circumcised in the bush.
She said after the cut, the parents will marry off their girls immediately in-exchange of wealth in terms of livestock.
Last year November, the Star highlighted more than 2,000 girls from pokot community in Tiaty Sub-county, undergoing the female cut despite the government ban.
Reliable source further hinted that the traditional women circumcisers were paid at least two goats or sh3, 000 per girl adding that the rite of passage is normally observed in August and December.
However, the source said a man is forced to part with 50 goats, 30 cows and 10 camels to marry the circumcised young girls as his wife.
-Joseph Kangogo