Man, 33, handed 40 years behind bars for defiling daughter

Handcuffs

A 33-year-old man who plied his 13-year-old daughter with chang’aa before sexually molesting her was handed 40 years behind bars by an Eldoret court on Monday. The court found the man guilty of defilement and incest.
 

Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • State Counsel Margaret Sakari told the court that the incident traumatised the girl, who was relocated to a rescue centre
  • The girl told the court that her paternal grandmother would wash her after the incident and frequently told her not to tell anybody

A 33-year-old man who plied his 13-year-old daughter with chang’aa before sexually molesting her was handed 40 years behind bars by an Eldoret court on Monday.

The court found the man guilty of defilement and incest.

Court documents showed that the incident occurred between March 13 and August 2020 in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County.

The man was also charged with an alternative count of engaging in an indecent act with the child.

Prosecutors told the court that the man, who lived in a one-bedroom semi-permanent house with the girl and her paternal grandmother was defiled in the presence of the latter.

Induced child with changáa

The court heard that he would dupe the girl into consuming chang’aa and once she became intoxicated, he would carry her to his bed and defile her.

The girl used to sleep on the couch in the sitting room.

“I used to find myself on my father’s bed with a lot of pain in my private parts. My grandmother used to wash me after the incident as she frequently told me not to tell anybody,” she said in her witness statement.

State Counsel Margaret Sakari told the court that the incident traumatised the girl, who was relocated to a rescue centre.

Ms Sakari asked the court to take severe action against the culprit, noting that such cases were becoming common, especially in dysfunctional homes where illicit brew is consumed and sold.

Deserves sentence

Delivering the sentence, Senior Resident Magistrate Barnabas Kiptoo noted that the man’s actions were inhumane and he deserved a sentence that will serve as a lesson to other men like him.

“From the evidence produced in this court, I find that [the man] is guilty of the offence of incest,” ruled the magistrate.

In his mitigation, the man had told the court to consider the two years he had spent in prison and impose a shorter sentence so that he could return home to take care of his family.

The magistrate sentenced him to 40 years in prison.

“Considering the age of the minor, who is your biological daughter, this court has sentenced you to serve a jail term of 40 years to serve as a lesson to men with a similar character,” the magistrate ruled.

Meanwhile, the magistrate directed the Huruma police station commander (OCS) to arrest the girl’s grandmother and present her in court to face charges of protecting her son.