There are gropers, and then there are gropers of Likoni Ferry, Mombasa. Some risk death by mob justice for touching women inappropriately when the ferry is filled to the rafters.
Eric Kariuki, a guard at a private security firm at the Likoni Ferry Channel, recalls the case of a man who was almost thrown into the sea when passengers carried him shoulder high in a bid to feed his perverted carcass to sharks.
The man was caught fondling and groping a curvy woman in the MV Pwani vessel during rush hour in the morning.
The man had begun by innocently leaning on the woman in the overloaded ferry. He then proceeded to gently rock her behind before getting bolder and lifting her mini-skirt prompting her to scream.
Kariuki told The Nairobian that fellow passengers thought someone had been robbed as it so often happens, but the victim raised the pitch of her voice even louder informing others what had happened and “it was then that they descended on the fellow with blows and kicks and attempted to throw him in the ocean before we intervened to avert a catastrophe.”
The man could not mount a defence as he had wet himself all over her butt after losing control of his groin.
“When the men got hold of him, he had actually fished out his rod like he meant to take his misadventure further. Some even suggested that it be cut off,” narrated Kariuki about what is now not an isolated case.
Fatma Aziz, a secretary at a law firm in Mombasa, says she often encounters the randy perverts on the ferry and in one instance she almost had her nyosh fondled but she warded him off with a sharp elbow to his rib and sliced his hand with a blade she was carrying.
The man suppressed a scream. It is now common for women using the ferry to carry knives and small sharp metal rods in their handbags.
“We also prefer to stand or sit next to our fellow women or at vantage points where it is impossible for one to harass you without being noticed. I have always asked myself what these men want to achieve since it is impossible to rape a woman in the midst of so many people. What satisfaction do they get by grabbing, fondling our butts or touching our busts? It does not make sense, does it?” she posed.
Fatma explains that the notion that only scantily dressed women are targeted by the sex predators is wrong since even bui bui clad mature women have also fallen victim.
Kariuki says the Likoni ferry has full time perverts masquerading as passengers who “leave home to make countless crossings all day with their roving eyes set on the women aboard. Once we get hold of these fellows the Kenya Ferry Services security team promptly hands them over to the police but they somehow get released and return to their ways.”
Salim Zani who also crosses the channel daily however argues that some women attract the sex predators due to their dressing when “they wear skimpy and revealing outfits that leave little to imagination. They then complain of being targeted.”
Besides the ferry, matatus in Mombasa are the other hunting ground for gropers.
Sandra Oketch, a 25 year old who works in a beauty parlour in Mombasa, says, “I had to hit a man very hard on the face recently when I caught his hand caressing my thigh in a matatu. He was seated next to me and although I was busy browsing on my phone, I felt his hand gently touching my left thigh. I recoiled and hit him hard.”
It was the fourth time she had experienced sexual harassment in a matatu and the culprit was saved by other passengers who wanted to skin him alive.
Maina Nyokabi, a conductor plying the Bamburi route, admits that although many perpetrators are passengers, matatu crews are also notorious offenders during rush hours when they easily rub crotches against the women who are too pre-occupied boarding the matatus to realise what is happening.
He says there are those who inappropriately “touch the breasts; others tap the bottom while some may even kiss the women while pretending to whisper to them. I really pity our sisters, mothers and daughters. They go through a lot.”
Matatu Welfare Association Mombasa branch chairman Sammy Gitau while acknowledging that there are many wayward touts and drivers, insists it is the duty of Saccos to tame members and any offenders should be handed to the police.
Banking halls are not spared either. Noah Mwachiro, a customer care assistant with a local bank in Mombasa, disclosed that his bank was forced to hire additional guards to deal with gropers after female customers complained of harassment while queuing for services.
“The guards move around hawk eyed looking for such perverts. Since we increased their number, such incidences have drastically reduced. The predators seem to be aware that they are being watched,” he says.