• Magistrate says devil cannot be sued and blaming him is a waste of time.
• Abdallah blames devil for making him defile a 12-year-old girl.
Criminals must carry their own cross and stop blaming the devil, a magistrate has said.
Lamu principal magistrate Allan Temba said many criminals especially child defilers who come before him have the tendency of blaming the devil when given the chance to defend themselves.
He said any suspect who claims to have been misled by the devil into committing a crime has no chance in the judicial process.
Temba referred to a case where Muslim teacher Salim Issa Abdallah, 39, was handed a 20-year jail term for defiling a 12-year-old girl at Wiyon on January 19.
Abdallah tried buying the girl’s silence with Sh50 and a packet of biscuits.
While defending himself in court, Abdallah blamed the devil for making him commit the crime, saying he was a good person.
Sentencing Abdallah, Temba said he belongs behind bars as he is a danger to society considering the kind of crime he committed.
“You rape small children and you blame the devil. You sodomise small boys and say the devil lured you.This nonsense needs to stop. Let the devil be, because he is innocent. Criminals must learn to face up to what they do and live with the consequences. It is sickening how everybody coming here keeps blaming the devil,” Temba said.
The magistrate said criminals must accept their mistakes if they are remorseful but blaming the devil means they have not realised their crime.
“The law doesn’t recognize the devil. In fact, you can’t sue him. He is not an entity and as such must stay out of submissions from criminals. You can’t blame everything on the devil. Was he present when you raped this small girl? Can you provide prove that he made you do it? I sentence you 20 years in jail for the crime of rape.You have 14 days to appeal,”Temba said.
In a different case, a 26-year-old man was handed a life sentence after he was found guilty of sodomizing his 11-year-old step-brother at Mokowe village, Lamu West, on May 17 last year.
Yahya Hussein is said to have threatened his brother into silence swearing to deal with him if he told anyone.