A convict has lost his appeal against a 30-year jail term for defiling two girls aged seven and four years in 2017.
Silas Mwangi alias Kiamwangi Araya was handed the sentence by a Meru court in August 2018. He appealed against the ruling, but on August 20, this year, Justice David Majanja upheld the magistrate's ruling.
The grounds of Mwangi's appeal were that the prosecution failed to prove the offence of defilement beyond reasonable doubt.
He also accused the magistrate of failure to give a cogent reason for dismissing his defence.
In his judgment, Majanja said he was satisfied that all the elements of the offence were proven during the trial.
“The trial magistrate was alive to the fact that the sentence of life imprisonment was not mandatory when he imposed the sentence of 30 years imprisonment. I am not convinced that the sentence is harsh or excessive in the circumstances. I affirm the sentence,” he ruled.
The defiled girls had testified that on May 24, 2017, they were having lunch with their peers when Mwangi arrived and chased away the other children before asking them to accompany him to his house.
After they had eaten their meal, the appellant ordered them to get into his bed. The minors resisted, but he threatened to beat them if they raised the alarm.
Mwangi, who was well known to the children, forcefully undressed and defiled them. Their cries attracted the attention of neighbours, who arrested and took him to a police station.
In his defence, Mwangi acknowledged that he knew the children. He claimed that they were on the material day stealing bananas from his shamba and that they fled when tried speaking to them.
However, medical documents produced in court confirmed that the minors had been defiled. The documents showed that they were below 11 years.
Edited by Henry Makori
