Former senior DCI officer Jervasio Njeru jailed for raping woman in his office

A former director of criminal investigations in Manyatta has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for raping a suspect in his office three years ago.

Jervasio Mwaniki Njeru was sentenced by High Court Judge Lucy Njuguna after the Director of Public Prosecutions appealed against his acquittal in March.

The former detective was sentenced to 20 years for raping and sodomising the 45-year-old woman and a further 10 years for abuse of authority for committing the bestial act in his office.

The judge said there was overwhelming evidence that the former officer committed the bestial act and that the trial judge had erred in acquitting him.

"The learned magistrate chose to ignore the compelling evidence in the form of DNA which linked the respondent (Njeru) to the offence beyond reasonable doubt, thereby doing the complainant a great injustice by acquitting the respondent," the judge said.

The judge said the fish vendor, who was arrested for allegedly stealing Sh200,000, was taken out of the cells by the former DCIO, took her to his office and told her unpleasant things before raping her.

The woman did not raise an alarm during the rape for fear of being harmed.

"On the issue of whether the trial court considered extraneous factors in reaching its decision, I have read the trial court's judgment and find that the trial judge did indeed err when he went out of his way to raise issues that were not raised by either the prosecution or the defence at the sentencing stage, without giving the parties an opportunity to address him on those issues," the judge added.

The former police officer was charged with three counts - two counts of rape contrary to the Sexual Offences Act 2006 and abuse of authority contrary to Section 24(2)(a) of the Sexual Offences Act. He faced an alternative charge of intentionally touching the woman's private parts.

The charge sheet stated that as a sub-county criminal investigation officer, he abused his office by raping the suspect at Manyatta Police Station in Embu on 31 May 2020.

According to evidence presented in court, the woman was arrested for allegedly stealing Sh200,000 and was detained for a few days before being released on bail.

Before her release, the woman was taken to a separate building for bail processing, but Njeru took her to an inner office where he raped her before releasing her.

The woman reported the matter to a police officer who took her to the station commander, where she recounted the ordeal in the presence of Njeru and other senior officers.

Njeru apologised and even offered to pay for her treatment if she lied about being assaulted by a stranger.

She was taken to Embu Level 5 Hospital for treatment, after which she recorded a statement.

She recounted the gruesome details of her ordeal, including being forced to suck his manhood and being forcibly penetrated.

Police officers later recovered her underwear and a piece of tissue paper from Njeru's office, which were taken for testing and samples matched Njeru's DNA.

Magistrate H Nyakweba acquitted him in March this year, saying there was insufficient evidence to convict the former officer. 

But the DPP appealed, accusing the magistrate of rejecting evidence, including that of the medical officer, that supported the charges.

The prosecution also argued that the magistrate failed to consider the report of the government's analyst, who had submitted a report in support of the evidence and charges on record, and disregarded the evidence of witnesses regarding the circumstances of the commission of the offence.

In his defence, Njeru denied the rape allegations and said his former colleagues were jealous of him because he had confiscated slot machines, some of which belonged to police officers.

He also claimed that the sex was consensual and that it took place in a hotel in Embu town. He even produced a receipt showing that he had paid for the room using M-Pesa, but the magistrate dismissed the defence, saying the receipt did not prove that he had booked the room on the fateful day.

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