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AP convicted of raping woman who’d gone to report forced abortion


An Administration Police Officer has been found guilty of raping a 26-year-old woman in Lamu.

Police Constable Rodgers Ouma, 28, had been accused of committing the offence while in his house within the Lamu police lines on December 8, 2019.

During the Wednesday Lamu Law Courts session conducted via video link, Principal Magistrate Allan Temba found PC Ouma guilty of two offences: rape and abuse of his position of authority as a police officer.

The evidence shows that the female complainant went to the Lamu Police Station sat around 8pm on that fateful day to report that her husband had forced her to take abortion pills to terminate an unplanned pregnancy.

After recording her complaint, PC Ouma went into the station and perused the Occurrence Book.

As she walked home, PC Ouma followed the victim behind and promised to assist her to pursue justice.

As she walked home, heavy rains began falling.

PC Ouma invited her to take cover in his house within the Administration Police Lines in Langoni.

When she entered, he locked the house, then snatched the victim’s phone away and switched it off.

The police constable then threatened to kill her with a knife.

He forcefully removed her buibui and tore apart some of her inner wear before raping her for about an hour.

After the incident, the victim managed to escape.

She spent the night in a neighbour’s house where she sought refuge since she could not access her house because her keys had been abandoned in PC Ouma’s quarters.

In the morning she reported to the OCS Lamu.

The DCIO commenced immediate investigations where they managed to recover the victim’s belongings from PC Ouma’s house and arrested him promptly.

Earlier, PC Ouma had denied the charges despite medical examinations having proved that the victim had indeed been raped.

While delivering the judgment on Wednesday, Mr Temba said the court had rejected the policeman’s defence that it was a setup, noting that he was the one who trailed and lured her to his quarters with a promise to intervene against her husband.

“The DPP has established beyond any reasonable doubt that the accused person committed the offence of rape after obtaining the consent of the complainant by means of threats and intimidation. PC Rodgers Ouma also abused his position as a police officer to commit the sexual offence against the complainant,” said Mr Temba.

The policeman will be sentenced on Friday after a victim impact statement is filed this week.