A 28-year-old man arraigned for defilement was on Tuesday proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt by a Kenol Court.
Delivering the judgment, Resident Magistrate Jackinda Renna noted that the DPP had furnished the court with evidence proving beyond reasonable doubt that indeed the accused person, Jackson Kariuki Waithaka defiled the minor victim M.W.K on August 17, 2023 at Iganjo Village.
“The Court equally knows that when called upon to give an explanation, the accused person opted to give an un-sworn statement and as such did not give the court an opportunity to process him further, in the end, I find the defense by the accused person an afterthought intended to mislead this court in the path of justice and the court at this juncture is satisfied that the offense of defilement was committed,” said the Magistrate.
Facts tabled by prosecution indicated that on diverse dates between August 15 and 17, 2023 the accused person defiled the minor M.W.K who by then was a child aged 17 years.
“The accused person manipulated the minor who boarded his motorcycle on the pretense of taking her home but changed his mind enroute and took her to his house, locked her in and continuously defiled her for three days.”
M.W.K narrated how on the said date while walking home from Kamahuha market to purchase vegetables and a cloth, she met the accused on a motorcycle and he offered to take her home for free and she obliged.
“When I first boarded the motorcycle, he was riding towards our house but thereafter changed direction, we never agreed on the changes and I thought he was using a shorter route to our home,” she said.
She noted that when they got to a house in a deserted area in a quarry, the accused told her that was his house upon which they got in, he made dinner and proceeded to defile her.
The following day the accused locked the minor in the house and went to work.
The prosecution lined up several witnesses including the minor’s sister who indicated that she had not slept at home for about four days.
The village elder also narrated how he was informed of a girl that had been locked in a house and he made a report at Iganjo police post upon which they proceeded to the house and found it locked with the girl inside.
A report was made at the police post and the accused was arrested. However, from his unsworn statement, the accused person denied having the minor in his house, claiming that he had only seen her on the road before and that the charges were malicious.
“I do not know her name, I did not defile her, there was no girl in my house, the village elder is being malicious, that is all,” read part of his statement.
In mitigation, the accused asked the court to be lenient because he has a sick mother, a wife and child, all of who depended on him.
The accused was informed of his right to lodge an appeal at the High Court Murang’a within 14 days if he was not satisfied with the courts conclusion while his date of sentence was set for January 21, 2025.
