A muguka trader in Embu has been jailed for ten years for raping a woman he pretended to escort to get a job.
Embu chief magistrate Maxwell Gicheru yesterday jailed Robert Magara Njeru, 45, after convicting him for raping the job seeker near Kamiu Catholic Church in Embu town on January 30 last year while threatening to kill her.
Gicheru said witnesses proved beyond any reasonable doubt that the accused committed the offense in broad daylight after planning it well.
The magistrate rejected a claim by the accused that police officers fabricated the charges against him after he refused to bribe them, saying the complainant positively identified him.
Prosecutor Victor Ombongi had asked the magistrate to give the accused a punitive and deterrent custodial sentence, arguing he had caused the complainant a lot of trauma.
Gicheru said although Njeru was a first offender he could not spare him after pleading for mercy and saying he had a wife and children who rely on him.
The magistrate gave the convict 14 days to appeal against the judgment if he was not satisfied.
The complainant and witnesses narrated how the convict found her working as a waiter at an eatery in Mutuavare, Mbeere South subcounty, on January 25 last year.
The convict introduced himself to the complainant before he promised to seek a better paying job for her at the Kenya Forest Service in Embu town.
They agreed to meet on January 30 in Embu for him to introduce her to the new employer.
On reaching Kamiu Catholic Church the accused led the complainant through a path and suddenly knocked her to the ground and raped her.
Njeru produced a knife and threatened to kill the woman if she refused to cooperate.
The rapist was arrested two months later in Embu town on March 3 last year while selling miraa and was charged with the offense.
