Madrasa teacher gets 20 years for defiling his pupil

A madrasa teacher has been jailed for 20 years for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl at his residence that he converted into a learning institution.

Mr Issa Kusow Hassan was Thursday jailed by Mombasa court after being found guilty of the offence he committed in February 2019 at Majengo, Mvita Sub-County.

Chief Magistrate Edna Nyaloti said the evidence tabled against the suspect was overwhelming, and that the offence was intentional and not accidental.

“I am satisfied that the prosecution has proved its case beyond reasonable doubt. I am also satisfied that the accused committed the offence, and he is guilty of the offence of defilement as charged,” she said.

While sentencing the man, Ms Nyaloti said the court has considered the age of the victim, the circumstances surrounding the offence, the social stigma surrounding the offence among the Somali community and the long term effect of the offense on the victim.

“The accused person is sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. I also direct that Mr Hassan’s photographs and details be taken and entered into the sexual offenders register,” she said.

The magistrate dismissed the accused’s argument that scar on the minor had been because of circumcision she had undergone.

Also, the court declared Mr Hassan’s wife, who had testified in the matter, as an unreliable witness for trying to cover up her husband’s criminal conduct.

The court noted that the woman’s testimony bordered on opinion on how her husband was a good person, who assisted children in need. Her testimony contradicted that of the accused.

“The court takes judicial notice that the minor had not attended any formal school apart from the madrassa school. She could not read or write. It is only after the court’s intervention that she was enrolled in a formal school by her parents,” said the magistrate

Court records shows that Mr Hassan’s house had three rooms.

He used two rooms and the sitting room as madrassa.

The minor had testified that on the material day, Mr Hassan released pupils to go for breakfast at their homes. But as they were walking away, he instructed her to remain behind.

After all the pupils had left, the suspect then instructed the minor to go to his office. He locked the door and covered the minor’s face with a hijab before committing the offence.

At the time, the institution had at least 84 learners under his care. He also employed other Madrassa teachers.

The minor testified that the suspect then warned her against disclosing to anyone what had happened to her. She told the court that Mr Hassan threatened to kill her should she disclose to anyone what had happened to her.

In her testimony, the minor’s mother testified that she discovered the minor was restless on the day she had been defiled.

She said that her daughter who is always jovial and talkative begun keeping to herself and avoiding talking to her.

“She looked unhappy, so I called her to inquire what her problem was, she however refused talk. She only said she had headache and wasn’t feeling well,” she told the court.

The woman said when she promised not to punish her after disclosing what had happened to her, the minor opened and told her she had been defiled by her teacher.

The 27-year-old woman said the minor expressed fear that the man had threatened to kill her, if he discovered that she had disclosed to anyone what had happened to her.

“She was frustrated and could sometimes refuse to attend madrasa classes due to fear. My daughter has never been the same since she was defiled. She always keeps to herself,” she said.

The woman told the court that the minor was defiled in February, but she only became aware of the incident in March, when the minor opened up, and narrated to her what had happened.

She said the man had converted a residential house into a madrassa but still lived there in a separate room.

In his defence, Mr Hassan denied committing the offence. 

“It was not possible to defile the minor in the same house I was staying with my family,” he said

He told the court that he might have been fixed by the minor’s father and other parents, who he claimed were jealous because the institution was doing well.

“They wanted the house where I was staying,” he said
While he claimed that he had differed with some parents, his wife said the man had no personal difference with the minor’s father and had not quarreled with him.

A medical report produced in court showed the minor had been defiled.

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