Tanzanian and Kenyan authorities rescue abducted 14-year-old

Tanzanian and Kenyan authorities collaborated to rescue a 14-year-old girl who was abducted more than a month ago.

CAPE TOWN, September 27 (ANA) – In a joint operation, Tanzanian and Kenyan authorities have rescued a 14-year-old girl who was abducted more than a month ago.

Nineteen-year-old Alex Jonathan Malel was arrested in the early hours of Sunday morning and the Kenyan girl was rescued in the Tanzanian town of Mto wa Mbu, Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Kenya reported on Monday.

Malel allegedly abducted the girl from her home in Kenya’s Nyeri County at 2am on August 25 while she was using the bathroom.

Nyeri County is more than 500km from Mto wa Mbu and is located north of the Tanzanian border.

Her disappearance was immediately reported to Gatitu police station in Nyeri County by the victim’s family.

Prior to the abduction, Malel was employed as a night-shift security guard at an establishment near the girl’s home.

The name of the establishment where Malel worked was not disclosed, nor were details of how a minor was able to cross a national border to enter Tanzania.

The arrest came after a cross-border joint investigation took place when criminal investigations officer John Gacheru escalated the case to DCI Kenya’s Special Service Unit (SSU).

DCI Kenya’s SSU then collaborated with Tanzania’s Mto wa Mbu police.

Malel is in custody at a police station in Monduli, Tanzania, roughly 100km from where he was arrested in Mto wa Mbu.

The 14-year-old girl was reunited with her family after being rescued, with no serious injuries reported.

– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher