Shock of Bomet’s 16 rapes every month

With a blue striped Maasai shuka, green dress and worn-out black shoes, the 12-year-old girl sat next to her grandmother in the second row of a courtroom packed with litigants from all walks of life.

With a blank stare, she watched for almost an hour the unfolding scenario in the room, hardly comprehending the back and forth verbal exchange between the smartly dressed advocates, prosecutors and magistrate before her file was finally called.

The setting is a magistrate’s court in Bomet county, which was immediately called into a camera session as parties not involved with the case filed out of the room leaving it almost empty. An orderly ensured the public was not within earshot.

The girl’s tender age hid the searing pain in her heart from the innocence stolen by a man who has just taken to the dock to answer to a crime that affects many children who continue to suffer in silence.

Cases of sexual offences are at an all-time high in Bomet county with the Judiciary, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and administrators are raising the red flag on the matter.

Ms Lilian Kiniale, the Bomet senior principal magistrate says rising cases of defilement and rape in the region were disturbing and need to be addressed by all stakeholders with a view to lowering them substantially.

“There are over 100 sexual offence cases that have been registered in Bomet this year, with 95 per cent classified as defilements,” said Ms Kiniale when she led judicial officers and court users in donating foodstuffs and clothing to Umoja Children’s home in Bomet Central constituency.

In 2019, more than 107 cases of rape and defilement were reported in the county, bringing the total number of gender based violence cases on record to 143, however, hundreds others were undocumented because they were not reported.

More than 201 cases of gender-based violence across the county’s five constituencies were reported in 2020, with three of the victims testing positive for pregnancy four weeks after the attacks, according to police records.

Parents, guardians and perpetrators of the sexual offences against the minors have sadly been interfering with the cases, according to judicial officers.

“The judiciary has been unable to expeditiously dispense with the cases as children are not brought to court when matters are coming up for hearing, thus leading to collapse of proceedings,” said Ms Kiniale.

The Children’s Department, the Social Service Unit in the county government, the LSK that provides pro bono (free legal) services in cases involving minors, and the Judiciary have had to grapple with the cases.

Mr Kiprono Kadet, the South Rift LSK secretary said majority of the cases are, unfortunately, hushed up through intervention by elders and relatives who do not care about the medical and psychological effect defilement has on the victims.

“It is a matter that all stakeholders must be brought on board to address as we have a responsibility to protect children in the society. Even with several of the offenders having been sentenced to long jail terms, the cases keep increasing,” said Mr Kadet.

It has also emerged that many of the cases that have been brought to court involve minors against fellow minors.

“We need to put a lot of effort to ensure sexual offences are reported, the children are treated, offered counselling and perpetrators prosecuted. We have had a lot of support from the Judiciary on the matter,” said Ms Rose Chepkorir, the Bomet county director in charge of Social Services.

 “We are sending a wrong message as a society, yet the affected children have parents and guardians who should ensure the cases are reported and perpetrators prosecuted.

Several stakeholders are in agreement that children are vulnerable and easily influenced, with perpetrators interfering with the cases.

Mrs Jane Sigilai, the Bomet County chief officer in charge of Culture and Social Services said the devolved government unit had, for the past three years been conducting awareness campaigns about gender based violence.

“A number of interventions have been taken to ensure the attacks are nipped in the bud and ensure that girls are protected by the society,” said Mrs Sigilai.

Boda boda riders are ranked among the leading sexual offenders in Bomet, Kericho and Narok counties, with a number of them having been arrested and charged in court.

The riders are reportedly enticing the girls with free rides and money before preying on them, with some of the incidents occurring when the minors are being dropped from school to their homes in the evening.

Bomet Resident Judge Roseline Korir separately said rape and defilement cases sharply shot up in the past four years.

Justice Korir noted during a meeting with members of the Court Users Association that the children who are being defiled are getting pregnant from the age of 12, leading to their dropping out of school and their lives being messed up.

“It is important for all stakeholders to carry out legal awareness programmes in the region with a view to curbing the rise in the defilement and other sexual offences cases. It is important for the society to understand that the family unit is important and it should be allowed to prosper with all children protected and given equal opportunities,” said Justice Korir.

“It is unfortunate that prisons across the country are teeming with young men and boys who are facing defilement and rape cases, with some having been sentenced to serve prison terms,” Justice Korir noted.

The cases have led to a high dropout rate of girls from schools due to stigma and failure to secure treatment and professional counselling.

Ms Carolyne Chemutai, an advocate, said there was a need to sensitise the police on how to secure crime scenes and preserve evidence relating to sexual offences so as to help in the conviction of suspects.

“Unfortunately, some of the crime scenes and evidence are tampered with before being presented for examination while victims are not treated on time,” said Ms Chemutai.

In some cases, casual approaches to investigations have seen suspects walk free while the victims are traumatised, some never recovering from the effects of the attack.