A 37-year-old Eldoret woman who stabbed her husband to death during a domestic fight has been sentenced to 25 years in jail by the High Court in Eldoret.
High Court Judge Reuben Nyakundi sentenced Winnie Maina after rejecting her plea for a non-custodial sentence.
Nyakundi noted that Winnie stabbed her husband five terms in the chest using a lethal weapon and that her only intention was to kill him.
Winnie is accused of killing her 33-year-old husband Wycliffe Miriti who was stabbed in their house and later succumbed at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret while undergoing treatment.
She denied killing Miriti who was a senior logistics officer at an international beverage company based in Eldoret in an incident that happened at their residence in Uasin Gishu county.
"You could have disabled him using other means if there was a fight but by stabbing him five times it means your intention was only one....that thou shall not live," said the judge.
She said Winnie had not shown any remorse, or regret or sought forgiveness from the deceased's family.
The judge noted that Winnie had cited the effects of a custodial sentence on the life of her 9-year-old daughter.
The judge said both the law and the bible demand that every human being should be allowed to live a full life.
"Murder is an ultimate act to end life and all that is special in a person. You turned your husband into a corpse in a brutal manner," said the judge.
He said society demands that offenders must be punished and that the accused had not proved in any way that she deserved a non-custodial sentence.
"I thus deny you a non-custodial sentence as sought by your lawyer and order that you serve the 25 years in jail," said the judge.
He, however, said the accused had the right of appeal.
Her lawyer Evans Miyenda had pleaded with the court to give Winnie a non-custodial sentence but the judge noted that in passing the sentence he only considered that she was a first offender.
In her defence during the hearing of the case, the accused had argued that they were so drunk and she does not recall what exactly happened leading to the death.
Winnie had argued in her defence that her husband armed himself with a knife and attacked her after they returned home from a late-night drinking spree.
"You armed yourself with a knife and targeted your husband at the most lethal spot where his survival chance was zero," said Nyakundi.
"It's not possible that you may have acted out of provocation or self-defence because you could have targeted any other part of the body if you intended to stop him."
While passing the 25-year jail term Nyakundi said domestic violence had become endemic in the society and it must not be allowed.
"As I always say when husbands and wives cannot find ground to dialogue and sort out differences, then the power of a gun or a knife should not be an option at all," said Nyakundi.
He said there was always the option of couples separate.
