Girl, 13, gives birth to twins after being allegedly raped by stepdad

A man accused of defiling his stepdaughter and impregnating her will know his fate in 30 days.

The man was arrested on June 22 last year and was charged the following day.

The girl, who was 13 years old when she was attacked, gave birth to twins.

Corporal Hellen Morgan, from the Kasarani police station children's protection unit, told principal magistrate Gilbert Shikwe that DNA tests had proven the man was the father of the twins.

A Milimani court heard that the man committed the offence between March 2020 and June 18, 2020, in Kasarani.

Morgan, who was the investigating officer, told the court the child explained how the man defiled her several times at night while her mother was asleep.

"She told me in Kiswahili that her father would wait until her mother was asleep then he would come to my bed," Morgan told the court.

Morgan told the magistrate that after investigations, she discovered the man committed the act during the Covid-19 period.

She said the family stayed in a single room. However, there was a store next to the house where the girl slept.  

"The girl told me that, at night when the mother was asleep, her stepfather would come in and defile her. He did it several times and warned her not to tell her mother about it," the police officer said.

The girl's mother, according to the investigating officer, only realised there was something wrong with the daughter when she noticed the child appeared to have difficulties while cleaning. That was on June 22 last year. It was after interrogating her that the girl informed her of how her step-father had been sexually abusing her.

The mother, in the company of a friend, reported the matter to Kasarani police. This was followed by the arrest of the suspect who was consequently arraigned for alleged defilement.

Morgan presented the man before court on June 23, 2020, but requested more time to carry out the tests before charging him. She was granted three days as the girl was placed at a children's centre for protection.

The tests, according to Morgan, proved the girl was pregnant. After giving birth, DNA tests were carried out and proved, by 99.9 per cent, that the man was the biological father.

When she was pressed by lawyer Appollo Bwana to give the background of the family from her investigations, Corporal Morgan said she was able to establish there was a time the girl was not staying with the family during which period she lived with her grandmother in Kitui.

Asked why she arrested the suspect before completing investigations, including DNA tests, Morgan said: "In the Children's Act, a minor cannot lie and the act had already become operational by the time I made the arrest. Furthermore, the child herself identified the stepfather as the culprit. That is why I arrested and charged him before even the conclusion of the investigations."