Starlet Wahu’s suspected killer John Matara in court on rape, theft charges
John Matara, who’s battling charges of murdering socialite Starlet Wahu, is back in court.
He appeared before Ruiru Law Courts on charges of violently robbing a woman and raping her at Kahawa Wendani, a Nairobi suburb, in 2023.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) told Ruiru Law Sourts Senior Principal magistrate Charles Mwaniki that Matara “threatened to eliminate the victim with a knife if she resisted”.
“While wielding a knife, Matara violently robbed the woman and then raped her,” the court heard.
The suspect denied the capital offence and sexual crime.
The particulars of the case read that Matara on May 16, 2023 at Kahawa Wendani within Ruiru- sub county, also robbed the said woman Sh30,000 from her mobile money.
He further stole from her two mobile phones worth Sh40, 000, an ATM Card and an international passport all valued at Sh88,300.
The suspect faces a separate rape charge where the prosecution averred that on May 13, 2023, he sodomised the victim of violent robbery.
Matara denied all three counts as his lawyer Samuel Ayora applied for his release on reasonable bail terms.
While pleading for his client’s temporary release, Mr Ayora complained the accused “was physically assaulted by police officers while being escorted to answer the charges”.
Mr Ayora told the court that police reportedly pulled the genitalia of his client and he requires urgent and prudent medical attention.
But a prosecuting counsel said the averments from the bar by the defence lawyer amounts to evidence.
He said a formal complaint regarding the torture claims should be filed at a police station so that an OB can be recorded and investigations carried out.
“A formal complaint should be made at a police station for purposes of investigations,” the prosecutor stated.
In a brief ruling , Mwaniki directed the accused to be taken to the hospital for treatment and a report filed regarding his status.
The magistrate directed that the hospital where suspect will be treated, the investigating officer shall obtain specimen from the accused for conducting DNA swaps whose results will be presented as evidence in the case.
The magistrate reserved his ruling on March 8, 2024.
Matara has separately been charged with murdering Wahu, whose lifeless body was discovered at an apartment in South B area Nairobi in January 2024.
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