A man sentenced to death for robbing a church caretaker, handcuffing him, and raping his wife will now serve 20 years in jail after a successful appeal.
Apollo Apitsa moved to court in a second appeal that sought the dismissal of a High Court ruling that upheld an earlier sentence by a chief magistrate's court.
Apitsa was charged with robbing Moses (not his real name) of assorted clothing and shoes valued at Sh50,000 while armed with pangas, rungus and axes. He was found guilty of robbery with violence.
In another count, he was charged with taking part in gang-rape. The particulars were that on October 25, 2012, on Otiende Estate in Kakamega Central, Apitsa and others not before court intentionally and unlawfully raped the caretaker’s wife in turns.
He denied the charges and the matter proceeded to full trial. The evidence adduced showed that Moses was a caretaker in a church in Otiende, where he lived with his wife.
On October 24, 2012, the married couple were home sleeping when, at around midnight, Moses heard their door being banged. Four people subsequently entered carrying torches.
The intruders ordered the caretaker to keep mum and started touching his wife inappropriately. On trying to raise his voice, Moses was hit on the head with a panga; his hands were cuffed and legs tied. They then pulled his wife out of the house and raped her in turns, prompting her to scream, thereby drawing the attention of neighbours.
The intruders fled, and neighbours, upon arrival, untied Moses and rushed him to hospital.
On February 18, 2014, following the testimony of six witnesses, Apitsa was convicted of the offences by a chief magistrate’s court and sentenced to death — which is mostly commuted to a life sentence in Kenya. He appealed against the decision at the High Court, but the ruling was upheld.
Apitsa then proceeded to the Court of Appeal in Kisumu, determined to have the conviction quashed and the sentence set aside. A two-judge bench comprising justices Jamila Mohammed and Ole Kantai, however, upheld the conviction but merited the appeal against the sentence.
“The upshot is that the appeal against conviction is dismissed, while the appeal against the sentence is allowed. Accordingly, the sentence of death is set aside and in substitution, therefore, the appellant is sentenced to 20 years imprisonment,” the court ruled.
Edited by F'Orieny
