Defilement
A Maralal court has sentenced a middle aged man for thirty years in prison after he was found guilty of defiling his twelve-year-old daughter. The accused, G.L had denied the charge of defilement contrary to section 8 (1) (3) of the Sexual Offences Act when he appeared before Maralal Senior Principal Magistrate Temba Allan Sitati.
According to the prosecution, the accused defiled his daughter on diverse dates between 7th and 29th August 2024 in Samburu Central sub-county. During the cross examination, the grade seven pupil told the court that the accused would arrive home at around 12 am after spending the day chewing miraa in town and instead of going to bed he would continue chewing miraa up to around 1 am.
The court further heard that the accused would later sneak into his daughter’s bedroom when everyone was asleep and defile her amidst threats to keep her quiet. “I share a bed with my little sister and on one occasion, I pinched her and when she woke up, my father was startled before getting off me and leaving the room.” She told the court.
The minors mother told the court that on September 1, 2024 she found her daughter sniffing tobacco and when she was canning her for her mischiefs she said she was doing it to relieve stress since her father has been defiling her. She added that she alerted her parents and reported the matter at the Maralal police station where the child was taken to the Maralal referral Hospital for medical examination.
In mitigation, the accused told the court that he did not commit the offence adding that he lived with the child as his own in spite of the mother getting her out of wedlock. The magistrate found him guilty of defilement and convicted him to 30 years in prison under section 215 of the criminal procedure code.
The accused was given 14 days to appeal the ruling of the court.