Kericho man sentenced to serve 10 years for raping mentally challenged woman

Bureti,

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

KNA by Sarah Njagi

A 33 - year- old man who was found guilty of raping a mentally challenged mother of three after luring her out of a church event has been jailed for 10 years by a Kericho Court.

Kericho Senior Resident Magistrate Japhet Bii found Edward Kiplangat Too alias the Teacher, guilty of raping the 34-year-old woman in a bush on September 12, 2021 at Kipsitet village in Soin/Sigowett Sub-County of Kericho County.

Too was also charged with an alternative count of committing an indecent act with an adult to which he also pleaded not guilty.

Prosecution produced five witnesses, all who gave corroborating evidence against the accused.

The court heard on the material day the accused found the complainant at a church event at AIC Kipsitet church within Kipsitet village and told her to accompany him to greet someone ahead and she boarded his motorcycle where he drove to a bush and raped her.

The accused promised to offer the complainant a token of Sh200 after the act but did not fulfill his promise.

The complainant reported the incident to her three brothers who took her to Kipsitet police station and then escorted taken to Kericho County Referral hospital for medical examination where she was treated and a P3 form issued which was produced in court as an exhibit.     

A clinical officer who examined the complainant confirmed evidence of recent penetration of the complainant.

The prosecution produced a letter from Eldoret Special School for the Handicapped as an exhibit in the case confirming the complainant was indeed mentally challenged.

In his defense, the accused denied committing the offence and said the case was a result of a grudge between him and the complainant’s three brothers and protested ever touch her.

In mitigation the accused pleaded for leniency but the magistrate found him guilty noting that the complainant was mentally challenged and had no capacity to consent to the sexual act.

“The prosecution produced a letter from a special school for the handicapped. Though the same was written in the year 2007 in my view it was instructive in this case in considering the mental capability of the complainant. Looking at the circumstances from the evidence, the accused goes to a church, picks up the complainant, takes her to a bush and has sex with her in broad daylight. To me this is unusual. It cannot be said the complainant was acting on her free will, she was lured. She had no capacity to consent,” said Bii.

 “I find the case against the accused has been properly proved. The accused is hereby found guilty of rape and consequently convicted under section 215 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) cap 75 Laws of Kenya. Mitigation considered the accused is sentenced to serve ten years in prison.” ordered Bii.

The court reminded the accused of his right to appeal the sentence within 14 days if dissatisfied.

Courtesy; KNA