55-year-old man to serve 15 years in jail for defilement

A court in Kandara, Murang’a County, has sentenced a 55-year-old man to 15 years in prison for defiling a girl aged 13.

Principal Magistrate Eric Mutunga ruled that prosecutors had proved their case against Dominic Mbai.

“In these circumstances, I sentence the accused to 15 years, having considered the Supreme Court’s [decision in the Francis Muruatetu case] that saw the dismissal of mandatory sentences,” the magistrate said. 

“A period of 54 days will be deducted from his jail term, since he was on remand pending [the posting] of bail and sentencing.”

The magistrate also said he had considered the girl’s age, whether there was penetration and whether the accused was positively identified.

He said a birth certificate produced in court had proved that indeed the victim was 13 years old.

A medical report from a clinical officer showed that the child was defiled more than once.

“The accused was also identified by the minor, who said that she knew him as his neighbour and that all incidents happened during the day,” the magistrate said.

The last time Mbai assaulted the girl, court documents showed, she received a Sh30 bribe from him.

The first incident, the court heard, occurred in December 2018 in a bush when the girl went to rescue her family’s cow.

In the second, she was returning home from school when Mbai kidnapped her and held her mouth before assaulting her.

A classmate of the girl found the accused in the act and reported the matter to their teacher.

In his defence, Mbai rejected claims that he had sexually assaulted the girl.

He claimed the girl’s mother had a grudge against him.

He said he was arrested in June 2019 from his bed and he only got to know about the accusations against him at the police station.

But Magistrate Mutunga found that Mbai's defence statement was unsworn, uncorroborated and did not offer anything that could exonerate him from the charges.