A Court in Meru county has overturned a 15-year sentence meted on a boda boda rider accused of defiling a 16-year-old girl, saying the girl behave like an adult during the act.
The preceding judge by the name Thripsisa Cherere in her ruling said the girl enjoyed the act like an adult, and therefore there was no indication that the girl was below 18 when she agreed to marry the accused person.
She said the girl lived with the accused person for about a month when the girl’s father stormed the home accompanied by police and arrested the couple.
The girl was escorted to hospital for examination, where it was established that she was 16, and had an old perforated hymen.
The accused person was later charged with defilement and an alternative charge of committing an indecent act with a minor.
The Form three girl at a day secondary school is said to have been defiled by the suspect, who lured her into his house, where they lived together as husband and wife for a month.
The girl’s mother disagreed with the court ruling, saying the 22-year-old boda boda operator is alleged to have taken the girl with him to an unknown place, where they stayed together for the duration.
“My daughter disappeared last month and later came back home pregnant. We want the man who impregnated my daughter to continue serving in jail,” the mother asserted.
The furious mother also revealed that she is not prepared to watch her child’s dreams of pursuing education messed up by dropping out of school to nurse a baby, while the man walks scot-free.
While making a ruling on an appeal lodged by Mr. Hussein, who had been convicted of defilement, the judge noted that the two had openly lived as man and wife.
Justice Cherere pointed out that the girl had testified that Mr. Hussein had visited their home in December, where they spent the night and engaged in intimacy activity.
On the following day, she voluntarily went to Mr. Hussein’s parent’s home in Isiolo and was introduced as his wife, and they continued to live together while making love.
Justice Cherere, however, cautioned female students not to associate with outsiders, especially boda boda riders, whose cases of sexual harassment had alarmingly risen in the recent past.
“Incidents of sexual harassment among primary and secondary school girls have been on the rise in the country and the law should be used to protect them and those found guilty be left to rot in jail,” she said.
