A case in which a 55 year-old man in Tana River County was jailed for life last Thursday for defiling his 11 year old granddaughter, laid bare the agony facing children whose defilement cases are adjudicated within the family.
The court established that, over one year, the girl was defiled by a man who should have otherwise been one of her protectors.
Her decision to report this matter later on to some of her family members only made matters worse, as the grandfather continued to defile her.
The court heard that the accused defiled the minor on diverse dates between June 2022 and 17th July 2023 in Hola, Tana River County.
The accused could pick a time when the minor came from school and the grandmother was away from home when he would call the granddaughter to his bedroom, defile her and warn her against reporting the same to any person lest he harms her.
The court heard from the accused's wife (the minor's grandmother), that the minor was tired of the sexual abuse by her grandfather and decided to report the same to her grandmother's sister who informed her of what was going on in her house.
The two confronted the man who, when pinned, confessed to having done the act and that he was sorry and requested the wife to forgive him as she would not repeat it.
The two witnesses confessed to have decided to let the matter slide, only to find out weeks later that the accused had gone back to defiling the minor.
"My granddaughter told me once again that the grandfather was back at her with the defilement, and was this time very aggressive," said the grandmother.
The girl was taken to a local hospital where it was discovered that she had been defiled several times.
Hola Senior Principal Magistrate Edward Too, sentenced the man to the lengthy jail term after ruling that the prosecution had proved the case beyond any reasonable doubt.
"It is clear that the accused is a habitual perpetrator and has neither remorse nor regards to the welfare of the affected," he said.
The Hola Court heard that the grandfather lured the minor into sexual activities by inviting her to his bedroom in pretense that he wanted her to carry out some house chores for him, and proceeded to defile her repeatedly.
The prosecution, through Prosecution Counsel Elijah Oruko, called four witnesses who testified and established a case against the accused person.
