Sindo town: The Sodom and Gomorrah of Homa Bay County
Sindo, a small town on the shores of Suba in Homa Bay County, could as well be a smaller version of the infamous biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The town is famous for illicit sexual affairs, alcoholism, prostitution and other acts of debauchery.
Little wonder then that Sindo is among the towns with high rate HIV/Aids infections in the country. Other sexually transmitted ailments are also rife in the town where residents have their own rules. They also communicate in phrases that cannot be easily understood by people from other places.
A common practice among locals is called Puk Wayier (pick and throw away after use). What it means is that a woman can live with a man for a short while, dump him and find another man within the same locality.
Here, single men are in high demand and women in fish business often fight over these men.
According to William Obuya, Sindo town market chairman, some of these illicit sexual affairs have resulted in tragic deaths.
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“Most cases of domestic violence are as a result of these illicit affairs, where one woman is in a relationship with several men. There have been cases of people entangled in such affairs getting seriously injured in fights,” he said.
Michael Otieno, a village elder, blamed lack of courtship as the main problem affecting relationships in Sindo. In his view, most people meet and within a short time decide to live together as husband and wife. As a result, some people have ended up marrying men and women who had separated with their spouses.
“Some marriages take months before the couple part ways and remarry. In most cases, a newly married woman is probably the wife of another man somewhere,” he explained.
Mr Otieno proposed to landlords with rental houses to ensure their tenants are people whose backgrounds are known. In some instances, he said, love rivals have met in the same house, leading to fights.
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Apart from these sexual affairs, Sindo town is also known for rampant crime. A section of residents are concerned about the increasing number of cases of human rights violations. This has also caught the attention of security agencies.
As a result, a special operation is ongoing in the town and the adjacent villages. Suba Deputy County Commissioner Sebastian Okiring said he has been informed about some of these criminal activities.
Throughout this month, police have been combing the suspected hideouts of criminal gangs. Mr Okiring said 15 people have already been arrested since the operation began.
The administrator also blamed business operators in the town for being behind some of these cases. According to Mr Okiring, most proprietors of lodges and rental houses do not bother to check on the background information of the people who rent their properties.
“We will deal those behind criminal activities and restore the town’s dignity,” he promised.