A girl who was allegedly infected with HIV by her father is living at the Nyeri Provincial General Hospital in Kenya for fear of punishment

Amos Kareithi:

The eight-year-old girl from Naromoru refused to go home after she was discharged, saying her father, who was arrested on Wednesday, had threatened her with death if she exposed her ordeal.

"He sneaks to my bed at night. He does bad things to me after removing my clothes. He told me that if I ever tell anybody, he would slash off my hands and legs and then kill me. Please take me to a boarding school," the girl said amid tears.

Her stepmother confirmed that the minor cannot walk properly because her husband, 40, has been defiling her. The girl's mother died in 2002 from HIV-Aids related complications.

Relatives have pleaded with the hospital authorities not to release the girl.

Doctors told The Standard that the girl was not born with HIV. She said that since her mother died, she had been living in misery. Her elder sister, she said, fled to live with her maternal grandmother.

Her stepmother, who was married in September last year, said she pressed the girl to speak out after she noticed her limping.

"I enquired what was wrong, but she could not tell me. I persisted and she finally told me the truth," she said.

The woman now says she wants their marriage annulled.

"I will go for an HIV test so that I can seek medical attention if I'm infected. I cannot live with such a man," she said.

What a sick, depraved animal.