Story highlights

The 16-year-old girl was raped on her way from a funeral, rights groups say

She was then dumped in a pit latrine, a newspaper says

Police order the alleged attackers to mow the lawn of a police station as punishment

The teenager is confined to a wheelchair since the attack

CNN  — 

Outraged Kenyans are demanding justice for a teenage girl who was allegedly gang-raped, dumped in a sewage ditch, and left for dead.

She later identified three of six suspects, who cut grass at a police station and were freed afterward, according to the groups.

Protesters made their way through downtown to the police chief’s office to deliver a global petition demanding the arrest of the suspects. They chanted “justice for Liz” and carried placards with the same words.

After the alleged rape, the six men reportedly buried her in the 20-foot latrine. Neighbors heard her cries for help hours later and pulled her out, bloody and by then unconscious, according to Kenya’s Daily Nation, which broke the story.

She identified three of her alleged attackers, and an angry mob of neighbors hauled the suspects to the local police station.

But what followed added to the outrage.

She has to use a wheelchair

“This is yet another example of blatant impunity and repeated noncompliance by the police and other government authorities. Rape and other gender crimes have consistently been treated as lesser crimes – this is unacceptable,” Kenya’s Coalition on Violence Against Women said in a statement.

The girl has had to use a wheelchair since the attack, according to the Daily Nation newspaper. She’s also suffering from a condition that makes her unable to control her bowels as a result of the rape.

CNN does not name victims of sexual assault.

Global campaigning network Avaaz launched an online petition demanding justice. It had more than 1.3 million signatures by the time protesters delivered it to the police chief’s office Thursday.

On Twitter Saturday, Kenyan police chief David Kimaiyo thanked Kenyans for bringing the case to light.

He said in a tweet that suspects have been arraigned in court and are awaiting a hearing. But that tweet has since been taken down. It’s unclear how many arrests were made.

Neither Kimaiyo nor the Kenyan police spokeswoman responded to CNN’s repeated calls for comment.

The national gender and equality chairwoman called on authorities to ensure the matter is resolved.

“Justice delayed is justice denied,” Winfred Lichuma said in a statement last week.

Local rights groups have teamed up to demand justice in the case and are planning more protests until arrests are made.

At least 32% of Kenyan girls younger than 18 experience some form of sexual violence, according to a report released last year by the government and the United Nations.

The numbers may be higher because many rapes go unreported for fear of stigma.

CNN’s Lillian Leposo contributed to this report