Mpeketoni Law Court in Kenya has sentenced a Kilifi man to life imprisonment for having unlawful carnal knowledge of his 9-year-old step-daughter.
In his judgment, the presiding magistrate Pascal Nabwana said that his court had established that the minor’s account of what happened was truthful and convincing.
He added that it was apparent that the accused person committed the said act.
“I am convinced that the accused person, sexually penetrated the minor and therefore defiled her.
In the view of all the foregoing, this court finds that the accused person’s defence testimony is unbelievable, unreliable and has failed to displace the prosecutions evidence on record.
“In accordance with section 215 of the criminal procedure code( CPC) cap 75 of the law of Kenya, the accused person is here by sentenced to life in prison,” the magistrate said.
Nabwana noted that he considered the evidence from both the doctors who treated the minor at the Coast General Hospital before reaching to the decision.
He added that he factored in the reports by police officers who investigated the matter. The accused had lied to the police that his step daughter had developed fistula.
“There was no evidence, that the young girl would incriminate his step-father. The accused person maintained that there was no defilement, and maintained that a sweet palm fruit, that is highly concentrated in fiber, had caused the hymen to break when the minor developed fistula complications.
He also stated that it might been as a result of constipation or the doctors at Mpeketoni interfered with the hymen while undertaking surgical review,” he said in his judgment.
Nabwana took issue with the minor’s mother, after the court established that on the fateful day, when she rushed inside the house to find out why the kid was screaming, she found the minor seated on the accused persons bed, crying and bleeding from her private parts but failed to raise an alarm.
“The discovery should have had her worried, unfortunately it did not. She proceeded to clean her up and but the minor did not sleep. She cried endlessly as she complained of stomach and back pains. This should have raised an alarm and made the mother of the victim to interrogate her more,” Nabwana said.
The court further established that treatment notes from the clinic at Kibaoni, where the victim was first taken by the accused person had a huge subtitle, marked as S.T.I on July 27 2021 and a spectrum of antibiotic administered to treat the sexually transmitted infection.
“There is no doubt in this court’s that the victim was sexually penetrated and hence the aspect of defilement has been proved beyond reasonable doubt,” the court said.
