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Defilement Cases; Man Charged With Defiling Pupil

Defilement Cases; Man Charged With Defiling Pupil

Defilement Cases; Man Charged With Defiling Pupil

In an Eldoret court, a 43-year-old farmer denied a charge of incest.

A.W. appeared before Senior Resident Magistrate Christine Menya on Friday, charged with defiling his 10-year-old daughter in Kapseret sub-county, Uasin Gishu, on his matrimonial bed.

According to prosecutors, he defiled the girl several times in September.

A teacher at a nearby primary school, where the girl is in Grade Five, discovered the abuse. The man has been estranged from the girl’s mother.

Teachers had noticed the girl walking awkwardly, and when questioned, she revealed what had happened to her.

The incident was then reported to Langas Police Station. Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s medical examination confirmed that the girl had been defiled.

Prosecutors requested another medical examination to determine whether the girl had a sexually transmitted disease.

This comes after teachers who examined the girl at school suspected she was infected.

Before his trial, the man is awaiting a decision from the court on whether he will be released on bond.

Prosecutors have lined up eight witnesses, including the young girl and her mother.

On October 26, the case will be heard.

Man Gets Life Imprisonment For Defiling Minor

Defilement Cases; Man Charged With Defiling Pupil

Defilement Cases; Man Charged With Defiling Pupil

An Eldama Ravine Court has sentenced a 32-year-old man to life in prison for defiling a seven-year-old orphan.

Moses Kimutai, of Oterit in Mogotio, Baringo County, was found guilty of defilement in violation of sections 8(1) and 8(2) of the Sexual Offences Act No. 3 of 2006.

Kimutai was charged with intentionally and unlawfully defiling a seven-year-old child on September 13, 2022, at Oterit village in Mogotio Sub-county, Baringo County.

The prosecution, led by State Counsel Rebecca Mayeku, told the court how the accused kidnapped the minor while she was fetching firewood on the road next to her house and led her to a nearby thicket where he committed the illegal act.

The young girl’s screams attracted the attention of her sister, who, concerned that she had taken too long in her firewood fetching duty, rushed to her aid and discovered the accused on top of her.

The screaming sister attracted the attention of their aunt, who rushed to the scene and subdued the accused until members of the public arrived. They summoned the area chief, who apprehended the accused and transported him to the Emining police station for booking.

Eldama Ravine Senior Resident magistrate Alice Towett determined that the prosecution’s case satisfied the three elements of a defilement case, namely identification, penetration, and the victim’s age, after hearing the testimony of six witnesses.

“Section 8(2) of the Sexual Offenses Act under which the accused is herein charged provides that a person who commits an offense of defilement with a child aged eleven years or less should be sentenced to imprisonment for life,” said the Magistrate

“Upon analysis of each ingredient of the offense independently, I found that it was very clear to the court that the PW1, PW2, and PW3 who are the victim, sister, and aunt respectively and the accused are well known to each other by the fact that the accused was engaged by the aunt to dig a pit latrine for her,” she added.

Towett went on to say that the accused was identified at the scene of the crime, where he was caught in the act by the victim’s sister, while the aunt discovered him with his long trousers unzipped.

The magistrate noted that the testimony of the three witnesses corroborated with that of the clinical officer, Winrose Kigen, who examined the victim and discovered torn hymen and tear on the victim’s labia minora, thus properly establishing the ingredient of penetration.

The Magistrate also relied on the minor’s birth certificate, which proved the victim was seven years old at the time of the offense, and the fact that the accused did not dispute the victim’s age.

The court determined that the accused’s defense, which claimed that the charges were fabricated against him by the minor’s aunt after he went to demand payment of Sh2100 owed to him for digging a pit latrine, could not pierce the prosecution’s watertight case.

Towett also stated that the accused was caught red-handed by the victim’s sister and aunt, where he was arrested, and that the police visit to the scene established that the ground was disturbed, evidence of a struggle between the victim and the accused.

“The prosecution has established all the ingredients of charges of defilement and I have no doubt in my mind that the accused is guilty as charged as the prosecution has proved its case beyond reasonable doubt. I now proceed to convict the accused under section 8 (1) as read with section 8(2) of the Sexual Offenses Act no. 3 of 2006,” noted the Magistrate.

Towett stated that she considered the accused’s mitigation that he had young children who relied on him, as well as the fact that the victim is an orphan who lives with her siblings, none of whom are 18 years old.

“The accused took advantage of the fact that the victim is an orphan with no one to protect her. It is the duty of the court to ensure that everyone including orphans gets justice, further the offense before the court is rampant and calls for a deterrent sentence,” said the magistrate in her ruling.

Kisii University Students cleared of defilement charges

Defilement Cases; Man Charged With Defiling Pupil

Due to a lack of evidence, two university students who faced defilement charges were acquitted.

After battling the charges for three years, Eldoret Senior Principal Magistrate Richard Odenyo released Amos Karani Washiku and Brian Simiyu of Kisii University.

On October 4, 2019, officers from Naiberi police station arrested the Bachelor of Administration and Bachelor of Education students after the mother of a five-year-old girl reported the incident.

According to the police, the students, who were the child’s neighbors, defiled her in the rented house next to her parents’ home on multiple occasions.

The accused, who were represented by lawyer Nathan Oburu, claimed they had suffered greatly in remand before their parents were able to raise the necessary bond.

The prosecution told the court that they defiled the girl on an unknown date between July and early August 2019 at Kenya Service in Kapsoya estate within Ainabkoi sub-county.

They were also charged with engaging in an indecent act with a minor.

During the hearing, lawyer Oburu poked holes in the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s P3 form, indicating that the child’s scars were caused by external injuries rather than penetration.

He expressed surprise at how the two young men defiled the minor without injuring her despite her young age.

“It is illogical to convince this court that my clients, who are adults, defiled the minor in turns without injuring her internally, only bruising her on the area around her private parts,” Mr Oburu told the court.

The prosecution called seven witnesses in court, including the minor’s mother, whom the defense attorney accused of forcing her child to “fix” the accused.

The magistrate acquitted them on Wednesday, saying the prosecution’s evidence did not convince the court that the accused were guilty of the crime.

“The evidence produced in this court against the accused by the prosecution has made this court doubt the entire evidence. The court finds that the prosecution has not proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and they are, therefore, acquitted under section 215 of CPC, due to insufficient evidence” he ruled.

As they celebrated the court verdict, the accused and their family members began to cry.

“I thank God for the acquittal of my son despite the hurt that we have suffered as a family. As a mother, I hold no ill will towards the accuser,” said Florence Odero, Simiyu’s mother.

ALSO READ:

In a statement about his case, Simiyu criticized the Sexual Offences Act, also known as the Njoki Ndung’u Act, claiming that many young people are rotting in prison, facing defilement charges for crimes they did not commit.

Defilement Cases; Man Charged With Defiling Pupil

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