By Wainaina Ndung’u
A shamba boy was handed a 10-year jail term for indecently prickling a minor as she ate an evening meal next to her father.
Rashid Ruguje Rofa was convicted of assaulting the Standard Five pupil’s private parts as during a meal of game meat at a home in Gatitu, on the outskirts of Nyeri town.
Nyeri Resident Magistrate said she was convinced by the testimony of the 11-year-old victim and her 10-year-old sister who had shared a meal with the accused, their father and other relatives on the night of August 11, 2012.
They were at the home of the uncle of the minors who had employed the accused as a farm hand.
The accused sat next to the minor and started assaulting her under the table forcing her and the sister to uneasily push their father who got suspicious. “The father could feel them pushing him. It was a signal,” observed the magistrate.
She added that the testimony of the victim’s sister had helped the prosecution case much as she was consistent even when under cross-examination.
The magistrate threw out the accused contention that the minor’s father had framed him up after he had “stolen” his girlfriend.
