A Migori man has been sentenced to life after the court found him guilty of defiling his 11-year-old niece.
Lameck Ochieng was found guilty of the crime he committed on his niece on December 13, 2020, in the Kameji area in Rongo Sub-County.
Rongo Principal Magistrate Raymond Lang'at while issuing a judgment on March 29 said the accused was positively identified by the minor as the perpetrator.
Ochieng had been charged with a count of defiling the minor and an alternative charge of having an indecent act with a child.
The court heard that Ochieng on the day led his niece into a maize plantation where he defiled her and threatened her not to disclose the happening to anyone.
However, when the minor who was in pain got home, she disclosed to her mother, a widow, what had happened.
They reported the matter to the area assistant chief.
The minor then led her mother and the assistant chief to the maize plantation where she was defiled after which the matter was reported to the police.
She was examined on the same day and it was found that the hymen was freshly broken and there was bleeding.
The court found that the penetration was proved by the prosecution, as a birth certificate had been produced before the court to prove her age.
Five witnesses who had been lined up testified in the case as the accused was placed on his defence upon the closure of the case.
According to the principal magistrate, the complainant was only 11 when the accused, who is her uncle, decided to steal her innocence.
“Having considered the nature and circumstances of the offence, and the time the accused person has spent in prison and his mitigation, what is in record is that the accused person is the uncle of the complainant,” Lang'at said.
Lang'at in his judgment noted that the accused was supposed to be the guardian of the minor but he decided to prey on her.
The principal magistrate indicated that it is true that the minor suffered untold trauma at the hands of the uncle and will live with that trauma for the rest of her life.
“Considering all those and the penalty prescribed under the sexual offence acts, and to be an example to the would-be offenders and being that this is an offence that is rampant in this area, and there is need for deterrent, I sentence the accused to life imprisonment,” Lang'at said.
Ochieng’ in his mitigation pleaded with the court to grant him a low sentence.
He said he had no parents and had a young family that depended on him.
“The main count of defilement was proved on the required standard. Although the accused person mitigates that he has a young family, the offence in question is grave and he deserves no mercy,” Lang'at judged.
