• Subcounty police commander urges parents to be extra-vigilant and keep a closer eye on their children.
• The girl is currently held at the children’s remand home.
Image: FILE
A 17-year-old girl from Nyakach accused of stabbing her boyfriend to death will have to undergo mental and age assessment first before facing murder charges.
The Form 3 student is suspected of stabbing Julius Odhiambo, 20, on September 7 in Polo area, Nyakach subcounty, following a disagreement.
Odhiambo sustained serious stab wounds and was rushed to Nyabondo Hospital and later referred to Kericho Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
The girl first appeared before Nyando principal magistrate Samson Temu on September 9. Temu granted DCI officer David Karanja 14 days to complete investigations and arraign her on September 23.
Karanja told the court that the accused was arrested at Apoko and placed in police custody. He requested more time to conclude investigations.
"I have not completed investigations and I'm currently waiting for postmortem results of the deceased,"he said.
He added that tension was high at the accused’s home area in Nyakach and that it would be safe to keep the girl for 14 days as investigations continue.
At the High Court in Kisumu on Wednesday, prosecutor Varoline Lubanga requested that the girl undergo mental and age assessment. She also urged the state to provide a lawyer to represent her and that the girl be remanded at a children’s remand home, pending the assessment reports.
The girl, who until Wednesday was detained at Pap Onditi police station in Nyakach, is currently held at the children’s remand home in Kisumu. She is expected to take a plea on September 30.
On September 9, Nyakach subcounty police commander Jonathan Koech said Odhiambo's father is a senior police officer in Mombasa county.
Koech said they were informed by villagers that a young man had been stabbed, and later died in hospital.
"We are not aware of the circumstances that led to the stabbing, but officers are proceeding with investigations," he said.
Koech urged parents to be extra-vigilant and keep a close eye on their children.
"Parents should know the whereabouts of their children, cross-examine them time after time, be closer to them in order to know and understand their problems."
During her arraignment on September 9, the girl confirmed that Odhiambo was her boyfriend.
"We are friends who had started dating," she told Nyando senior principal magistrate Samson Temu.
Friends, relatives, witnesses and sources privy to the incident and close to the accused said the two had a love affair. Most of them gathered outside the courtroom.