A 35-year-old man who pleaded not guilty to defiling a minor whom he lured to climb a window to his house in search of his missing door key has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a Kericho court.
Kericho resident magistrate Clare Odunga found Emmanuel Kibet Rono guilty of defiling an eleven-year-old girl in his house on diverse dates between August 2 and August 8, 2022, at Kapseger village in Londiani Sub-County of Kericho County.
Rono was also charged with an alternative charge of committing an indecent act with the girl, to which he also pleaded not guilty.
The prosecution produced five witnesses, all of whom gave corroborating evidence against the accused.
The court heard that on August 2, at around 2 p.m., the minor was at her home when the accused, their neighbour, called her to his house to get his key, to which she responded by following him as he held her by the shoulders.
On arrival at his house, the accused informed the minor that his keys were inside his house and requested that she get inside using the window, to which she obliged.
When the minor was inside the house, she asked him where the key was, but instead of replying, he followed her inside through the window.
The accused, while inside his house, pushed the girl to a corner, removing her inner garments. Any attempts from the minor to scream were thwarted by the accused, who held her mouth and threatened to kill her if she reported the matter to anyone as he went ahead to have unprotected sex with the minor.
After the heinous ordeal, the accused opened the door and told her to run back home, warning the minor again not to report the incident to anyone.
The minor confessed on December 1, 2022, to her mother, revealing the accused’s threat to kill her if she revealed the incident to anyone.
The mother reported the incident to the area chief and his assistant. The complainant was taken to Londiani sub-county hospital for medical examination, where she was treated, and the matter was reported to the police. The accused was later arrested.
A clinical officer who examined the minor told the court that indeed she had been defiled and tabled a P3 form and laboratory reports before the court, further confirming the defilement charge.
In his defence, the accused gave a sworn statement and called two witnesses.
Rono denied committing the offence, claiming that he was in Kuresoi in the month of August 2022 and that he travelled to Kapseger village on August 9, 2022, and back to Kuresoi on August 10, 2022.
Upon cross-examination by the prosecution, the accused testified to the court that he lived in Kapseger village but travelled to Kuresoi in July 2022 to assist his brother in farming.
The accused’s witness further testified to the Court that the accused was not home in the month of July 2022 as he went to Kuresoi on August 9, 2022, from Kapseger village to vote and stayed in Kuresoi after casting his vote.
The accused’s second witness further told the court that the accused was in Kuresoi on July 10, 2022, and that he travelled to Kapseger village on August 9, 2022, for voting and left for Kuresoi the same day.
In mitigation, the accused pleaded for leniency, but the magistrate found him guilty and ordered that he serve life imprisonment.
“It is my finding that the defence was an afterthought and accordingly dismissed.” Odunga ruled.
“The accused is hereby found guilty of the charge of defilement contrary to Section 8(1) as read with Section 8(2) of the Sexual Offences Act No. 3 of 2006 and hereby convicted under Section 215 of the Criminal Procedure Code.” Ruled the magistrate.
The convict was given the right to appeal the sentence within 14 days.
By Sarah Njagi
