- Swaleh Mwinyi, 37, was charged with defiling two minors aged seven and nine in 2012 and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
- The appellant had a chocolate oval object which he made them sniff and they felt dizzy.
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A man sentenced to life imprisonment for defiling two children in Mombasa by drugging them will now serve 46 years after winning his appeal.
Swaleh Mwinyi, 37, was charged with defiling two minors aged seven and nine in 2012 and sentenced to life imprisonment.
In a judgement delivered by Justice Anne Ong'injo on April 12, the court found Mwinyi drugged the children before defiling them repeatedly.
He then threatened to kill them and burn their father’s car if they reported him to anyone.
The judge ruled that the court did not find any reason in the appellant's submissions to prove the charge of defilement.
The court also found nothing unlawful about the sentence passed by the trial magistrate against the appellant.
"However, considering that the current trend requires sentences to be defined, I do revise the sentence to 23 years imprisonment in each count to run concurrently," the judge said.
The prosecution’s case stated that the first victim’s mother noticed that her daughter and her sister’s daughter had dirty underwear.
She also learnt from the house help that the children had been coming from school with money.
When interrogated the minors said it was the accused who had been giving them money. They said he also gave them snacks.
The mother said the children told her Swaleh used to call them and give them some powder to sniff and then defile them while dizzy.
The minor's father told court that he was home with his wife when the children returned from school late and left without saying anything.
Later, somebody asked him how he was related to Swaleh, warning him to watch out on his relationship with the minors.
He took the children to Coast General Hospital and it is while at hospital that first complainant said Swaleh used to take them to the bush and buy them sweet.
He said the children told him the abuse started when they were in grade one. He told court that Swaleh used to work for him as a painter.
The minors testified that they were heading to school when they met the appellant who was a cousin to their cousin and he bought them Milo and defiled them.
The appellant had a chocolate oval object which he made them sniff and they felt dizzy.
They did not tell anyone what happened when they got home as the appellant had threatened to kill them.
The first minor said Swaleh defiled her many times early in the morning when going to school and in the evening.
Dr Francis Otieno testified and produced P3 form and PRC forms which established the two minors had been defiled.
Swaleh in his defence gave a sworn statement and said that he knew the minors and their parents.
He said he didn’t commit offence for which he had been charged, saying he was in the mosque when the complainant’s greeted him.