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Man let go for impregnating daughter, but gets eight years for sexual assault


A man from Muchungucha village Kiharu Sub-County in Muranga County has been jailed for eight years for sexually assaulting his daughter even after being released on charges of impregnating her.

John Mwangi faced two counts of committing an indecent acts to his 13-year old step-daughter and defiling her on April this year.

FOUND GUILTY

Chief Magistrate Margaret Wachira found the accused guilty of the first count but released him on the second count saying the prosecution did not conduct a DNA test to prove that the pregnancy of his daughter belonged to him.

The Magistrate ruled that the accused defiled her daughter while his mother was in remand following a quarrel between the two over the victim after he had made sexual advances at her.

His wife who got furious over the matter, burnt her husband’s motor vehicle before she separated with her children and rented to a house in a nearby shopping center where the accused met the victim defiled her and threatened to kill her if she shared the information with anyone.

When the accused committed the act, his wife had been arrested for burning her husband’s motor vehicle and had been remanded at Muranga GK Prison.

The victim and her siblings were later taken to a children’s home by a well-wisher since they were alone at the rented house only for her to realize that she was pregnant five months later, a discovery that prompted the officials take her to the hospital and later to the police station where she narrated her predicaments.

CASE DISMISSED

While dismissing the defilement charge, the magistrate noted that the prosecution did not obey court orders to have the suspect and the victim subjected to a DNA test to establish whether the pregnancy belonged to him.

“Section 215 of the Constitution stipulates that a DNA be conducted for the purposes of connecting the suspect and the victim’s pregnancy. This means that the prosecution did not meet the threshold of convicting the accused, I hereby dismiss the charge,” the Chief Magistrate said.

And while using the same section to convict the accused on the second charge, the Magistrate observed that Mwangi did not deny that he had told the victim that he wanted to sleep with her and touching her genitals.

While approving the witness of the victim, she noted that although there were no witnesses, the law allows the charge since “the nature of the incident is not likely to be committed in full view of witnesses.”

“I find you guilty of the offense and although the maximum sentence is 10 years, I will jail you for 8 years,” she said.