A Nairobi businessman who was accused of tearing a woman’s bra, assaulting and raping her in his Kilimani house has been set free by the Court of Appeal.
Kennedy Kairu was on August 7, 2020, acquitted after the court found that the prosecution did not prove its case.
He had been charged with rape, assault and malicious damage. Kairu denied all the charges saying they were fabricated. The trial court found him guilty of the offence and sentenced him to 10 years in jail.
Kairu appealed at the High Court, where his case was dismissed, leading to a second appeal.
Appeal judges Asike Makhandia, Roselyne Nambuye and Sankale ole Kantai ruled that they found material contradictions in the prosecution case.
The judges further said the case was not proved to the required standard. The convictions were unsafe.
“The appeal is hereby allowed, the conviction quashed and the sentences set aside. The appellant will be set free forthwith unless otherwise lawfully held,” they ruled.
The woman testified that she knew Kairu well as she had worked in the same organisation with his wife.
She said she had interacted with Kairu in the course of work and in social circles. He worked in the insurance sector and she was a human resource person.
On July 14, 2007, she said she communicated with Kairu and asked him about openings in the insurance world.
They agreed to meet that evening at a club in Westlands, at about 6pm. Kairu had promised to help her find a job through another woman. The other woman was also to meet them at the club.
She said by 11pm the other woman they were waiting for had not arrived.
Kairu informed her that he had been invited to a party at a club in Kilimani and she requested her to join him. They would meet the unnamed woman there.
She said they drove to Kilimani and they took some drinks until very late when she got concerned and said she wanted to take a taxi home.
Kairu offered to drive her home in South C but when they boarded his car, he told her that he needed to first pick something from his house on Kirichwa Road in Kilimani.
They drove there and Kairu told her it was unsafe for her to be left in the car. They entered the house and she remained in a corridor downstairs while he kept walking up and downs the stairs – this concerned her and she decided to leave.
The main door was locked so she looked for another door which she found in the kitchen. As she struggled to open the door, she was surprised when Kairu kicked her from behind and when she turned he kissed her on the lips.
“She bit his lips which infuriated him and that is when the beating started. He dragged her to the living room while hitting her with his fists and every time she screamed for help, he would beat her even more while swearing that he would kill her. He tore her shirt, ripped off her bra and pressed her breasts,” the judgement reads.
Kairu further tore off her jeans trouser and dragged her upstairs where he threw her on a bed and raped her.
She said the ordeal took long and when he was done, he fell asleep. She waited for a while and when she was sure that he was asleep, she left the bedroom, wore her torn trouser now only supported by a belt, fetched a jumper from the bedroom and was able to open the main door after finding a key.
She said she called her boyfriend who came and rescued her. He was accompanied by another unnamed man in a car and they all went back to the appellant’s house where they found him still asleep.
They woke him up and confronted him.
They then reported the matter at Kilimani police station before going to the hospital.
Dr Zephania Kamau examined her and noted injuries on her body.
The injuries were caused by a blunt object. He further testified that the woman had been seen at Nairobi Women’s Hospital and her genitals were found to be normal.
In his defence, the businessman agreed that he had been in communication with the woman.
He said she called him repeatedly and he invited her to the club in Westlands where they shared drinks. They later went to the club in Kilimani where they stayed until 4am. They later went to his house, which she had visited often.
Kairu said the woman continued taking whiskey which was in his house but because he was tired, he left her downstairs and went upstairs to sleep.
At 5.45am he was rudely woken up by her and three men who alleged that he had raped her. They demanded Sh200,000 saying if he failed to pay, they would report a rape case to police.
Edited by A.N
