A Nakuru Court has sentenced a man who was part of a gang that raped a 49-year-old woman and infected her with sexual transmitted disease- to 25-years imprisonment.
Senior Resident Magistrate Yvonne Khatambi handed Charles Keitany the jail term after the court found him guilty of gang-raping the woman with others not before court on March 22, 2018 at Kongasis village within Nakuru county.
He also faced an alternative charge of committing an indecent act with an adult. In her judgement the magistrate said the evidence produced before court was sufficient to prove that the suspect had committed the offence.
“I have carefully considered the evidence on record. I am satisfied that the complainant’s testimony was corroborated by the witnesses lined in court and the medical report presented in court”, Said Ms Khatambi.
COMPLAINANT
“Taking into consideration the fact that the complainant was grabbed from the back undressed and raped in turns, the fact she attempted to scream and her mouth was covered in the process indicated that the complainant attempted to resist the attack but was overpowered by the assailant. I am satisfied that the prosecution has successfully proved forceful penetration. The accused is hereby convicted to 25 years- imprisonment,” added Ms Khatambi.
According to the prosecution, the accused was apprehended while in the act by two people who came to her rescue after she raised an alarm but other assailant managed to escape.
In her testimony, the victim told the court that two men got hold of her and undressed her and proceed to rape her in turns after she lost her direction at night while she was coming from a nearby shop.
However, she said she was able to identify one of the assailants since she had seen him before at Kongasis area.
OLD TEAR
A doctor attached at the Provincial General hospital testified that the complainant was examined at the facility and that an old tear was noted in her genitals.
“The lab results showed that the complainant had a sexually transmitted infection and bacterial infection,” read part of the doctor testimony.
When he was put on his defence Keitany denied committing the offence saying that on that the day he retired to bed early and woke up at 5am in the morning.
He told the court that he was only stopped by police officers on his way to work and was directed to proceed to the police post for identification purpose since a woman had been raped.
He further told the court that the complainant was her customer and had taken food on credit and failed to pay.
In his mitigation, he pleaded for leniency saying he has family who depend on him.
“I plead with the court to be lenient when giving its judgment. I am the sole breadwinner in my family,” said Keitany.
However, the magistrate noted that a deterrent sentence was appropriate considering the nature of the offence.
“The sentence given goes in hand with the offence committed. I therefore sentence you to 25 years- years imprisonment,” ruled Ms Khatambi.
