File Picture: Prakash Hatvalne/AP

Nairobi –  A charity group said on Monday that it was suing the Kenyan government over a failure to provide five women trafficked from India and Nepal for sexual exploitation with appropriate care after they were rescued.

HAART Kenya said a decision to make the three Nepali and two Indian women rescued from a Nairobi bar in August stay in the country and testify against their alleged traffickers had caused them psychological harm.

“After four months, the victims just want to go home. They have become deeply traumatised and suicidal … some have been hospitalised,” said Sophie Otiende, programme consultant for HAART Kenya, which has rented a safe house for the victims.

“So we have filed a complaint against the government so that all victims of trafficking are not compelled to testify and the government pays for their speedy and safe repatriation.”

The government has said it hopes to repatriate the five women, aged in their early to mid-twenties, in the coming days.