Meru man to serve 4 years, not 7, for sex with cow

I asked him why he was doing what he did. He did not have his trouser and underpants on. He was then pulled down. I took him. I tied his hands and called the relevant parties

The sentence of a man jailed for bestiality has been reduced from seven to four years. 

Castrol Koome, 23, in 2019 was found guilty of committing an unnatural act with his uncle's cow and sentenced to seven years in prison. 

The mason was accused of committing the crime on September 29, 2019, at Maringombugi in Imenti, Meru county.

He appealed in March 2020.

Koome said the key witness said it was midnight but did not indicate the intensity of the light, thus, his identification was negative. 

But Justice Edward Muriithi on December 2 upheld the conviction, saying a veterinarian had confirmed that the cow was violently penetrated. 

"The appeal on sentence is allowed and the court substitutes the sentence of seven years' imprisonment imposed by the trial court with a sentence of four years' imprisonment," he ruled.

During the trial, the prosecution said Joyce Kigongo, Koome's grandmother, was asleep when she was woken up by her employees on the material day. 

They told her that Koome was in the cowshed. She went and found the accused with his hands tied. 

Kigongo said she was told Koome was caught having sex with a cow. 

"The owner of the cow, who is my son, was called and village elders. I knew Koome before the incident as he is my grandson. The cow is still alive,” the court was told.

Kigongo said Koome was fond of preying on livestock and on the material day he was drunk.

Patrick Muthuri, who took care of the cows, testified that on September 24, 2019, at 12.44am, he heard cows mooing. 

He went to investigate and found the accused in the act. Muthuri said Koome had put the animal in a milking stall. 

Muthuri said he normally slept on the upper part of the cowshed. He said the light bulb was on and he clearly saw the accused. 

"I asked him why he was doing what he did. He did not have his trouser and underpants on. He was then pulled down. I took him. I tied his hands and called the relevant parties," Muthuri testified. 

George Mbaya, a veterinary surgeon with the county government, testified that he examined the cow and found it was penetrated. 

In his defence, Koome said the cow belonged to his uncle and the family had chased away his father.

He pleaded for leniency, saying he was a first offender and a family man with a wife and child.

Edited by Josephine M. Mayuya