A man convicted of chopping a woman’s index finger after she barred him from getting cozy with her Standard 6 sister will serve 10 years imprisonment.
The High Court considered the adduced evidence and asserted that the prosecution's case was straightforward and based on direct testimony.
Gilbert Gituma was charged with causing grievous harm to Purity Nkatha by chopping off her left index finger and deeply cutting her left thumb.
He is said to have cut her with a panga on the head and hands on December 23, 2018, at Antuamakia village in Meru county.
In a second count at the same place and day, Gituma was accused of assaulting Fridah Kawira by cutting her on the right shoulder and on the left forearm, thereby occasioning her bodily harm.
He denied the charges.
Following trial at a Tigania magistrate’s court, Gituma was convicted of the two offences and sentenced to 10 and three years respectively. The sentences were to run concurrently.
Aggrieved, he moved to the High Court seeking to quash the conviction and set aside the sentence.
“The appellant complained that he was convicted on the basis of inconsistent and contradictory evidence and that an essential witness was not called,” court papers read.
Nkatha testified that she was at the home of her sister where Gituma was drinking alcohol. She recalled him starting to fondle her younger sister.
When Nkatha protested, the accused fished out a panga, slashed her on the hand severing her left index finger and cutting her left thumb.
A witness revealed that he saw Gatuma slash Nkatha who bled profusely.
The accused said he did not hail from the complainant's village as he resided about 11km away.
He added that the complainants were out to frame him.
But Justice Majanja quashed the appeal and upheld the earlier conviction and sentence.
Edited by Henry Makori
