A 31-year-old man was on Wednesday handed the life sentence by a Lamu court for defiling a girl aged nine.
Kone Kitole Tana alias Collins was found guilty of committing the indecent act on the child at Mkomani area in Lamu town on March 24, 2017.
While appearing before Lamu principal magistrate Allan Temba, Kone denied the charges.
He instead accused neighbours and the family of the minor of framing him.
“I didn’t commit the offence. Someone is just framing me for nothing. I pray that the court does justice. I am the sole breadwinner for my family,” Tana said.
Magistrate Temba said the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
“After much scrutiny both on the prosecution and even the witnesses who testified against you, the court finds you guilty of the offence. You are sentenced to life in prison. You now have 14 days to appeal the ruling,” said Temba.
Elsewhere at the Mpeketoni law courts, a serial rapist was handed a 15-year jail term.
Simon Muiruri, 30, was found guilty of defiling six primary school girls in Mpeketoni.
Mpeketoni resident magistrate Pascal Nabwana said the accused had been pretending to be mentally ill, a strategy that worked very well in enabling him to pounce on unsuspecting children.
A psychiatric report presented in court however indicated the suspect was fit to stand trial.
Muiruri requested a non-custodial sentence saying he had not committed the offences and was simply being framed by the six victims.
While reading out his sentence, the magistrate noted with concern many sexual offences in Mpeketoni subcounty.
