An Eldoret court on Monday heard that a 'female' athlete charged with false pretences is a man.
Shieys Chepkosgei, alias Hillary Kiprotich, had denied the charge and was released on Sh40,000 bail. The accused was, however, acquitted of the charge of impersonating a female nurse at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital last year.
Investigating officer Victor Omondi told chief magistrate Linus Kassan that medical examination done at an Eldoret hospital showed the accused has male organs. He was testifying in a case in which the athlete, who now identifies as a woman, is charged with obtaining registration documents by false pretences.
Defence lawyer Elijah Momanyi had wanted the court to compel the police to release to the accused person's national Identity card, passport and birth certificate, which had been confiscated.
The lawyer told the court that his client has been unable to carry out bank and other essential transactions without the documents. But Omondi said the documents are exhibits and cannot be released until the case is concluded.
The prosecution also told the court that the police are looking for another ID card on which the accused was registered by the registrar of persons as Hillary Kiprotich.
The magistrate declined to order the police to release the documents and instead urged the prosecution to hasten the case to settle issues raised by the defence lawyer. He directed the case be heard on February 24. The case will be prioritised, hence the prosecution was told to make its 11 witnesses available for hearings.