Yesterday, an Eldama Ravine Court sentenced a 32-year old man to life imprisonment for defiling a seven year-old orphan.
Moses Kimutai hails from Oterit, Mogotio County and was found guilty for defilement. He was also found guilty under section 8(2). 3 of 2006.
Kimutai was charged with intentionally and illegally defiling a seven-year-old child on the 13Th day of September 2022 at Oterit village in Mogotio Sub-county within Baringo County.
State Counsel Rebecca Mayeku, the prosecution, explained to the court how the accused robbed the minor while she was fetching wood and led her to a nearby thicket, where he committed his unlawful act.
The girl’s screams drew the attention of her sister, who, worried that she had taken too long in her firewood fetching duty, rushed to her rescue and found the accused on top of the young girl.
The sister ran screaming and attracted the attention of their aunt, who rushed to the spot and subdued him until members of the public arrived. They called the local chief and arrested the accused. The accused was then taken to Emining for booking.
After examining the testimony of six witnesses, Eldama Ravine Senior Resident magistrate Alice Towett found that the prosecution’s case had satisfied the three ingredients of a defilement case namely, identification, penetration and the age of the victim.
“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
She further explained her judgment, “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, the sister and the 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.”
Towett said that the accused was caught at the crime scene by the victim’s sister. The aunt, however, found him wearing his long pants unzipped.
The magistrate noted that the witnesses’ testimony corroborated Winrose Kigen’s clinical officer’s testimony on the ingredient of penetration. Winrose Kigen examined the victim and found a torn hymen with tear on the skin. labia minora of the victim thus properly establishing the ingredient of penetration.
The Magistrate also relied on the birth record of the minor presented to the court, which proved that the victim was seven years old at the time of offense and that the accused did no dispute the victim’s age.
The court discovered that the defense of the accused, who claimed that the charges were fabricated by the aunt against him after he went to demand payment of Sh2100 for digging a pit toilet, could not be trusted by the prosecution.
Towett also stated that the accused had been caught red-handed in the presence of the aunt and sister to the victim. He was also taken into custody. A police officer visited the scene to confirm that the ground was not disturbed, indicating that there had been an altercation 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 him under section 8 (1), as read with section8(2) of the Sexual Offenses Act. 3 of 2006,” noted the Magistrate.
Towett stated that Towett took into account the fact that the accused has young children who are dependent on him.
“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.
By Christopher Kiprop
Source: kenyanews
