Minor provoked to kill

By Wahome Thuku

When Joseph and his wife Evelyn employed a 13-year-old house girl in May 1999, they had no idea of the misfortune that would befall the family a few weeks later.

The couple lived and worked in a remote village in Eldoret. They had three children, Robert 9, Lydia 7 and Isaac 5.

Winnie, a primary school dropout, was hired to take care of the children who were just about her age.

One afternoon in June that year, the three children returned from school and found Winnie at home washing clothes. Their parents were away.

As usual, they had their lunch before the two boys went to water the cows some distance from home.

While Winnie and Lydia were alone at home, an argument ensued.

Child’s threat

As Winnie would claim later, Lydia, went to her and asked why she was not washing the plates they had just used for lunch. Winnie assured Lydia that she would wash the plates after finishing washing the clothes.

The house help said Lydia threatened to report her to her employers. She claimed that during the argument, Lydia went into the house and took an iron rod intending to hit her but she managed to disarm her.

Lydia started crying and insulting her. Winnie reacted in anger, took the sisal string, followed Lydia into the house, tied the string around her neck and pulled it three times. The girl stopped breathing.

In what would appear as panic reaction, Winnie laid the girl on the floor in the kitchen and covered her with a blanket.

A short while later, the boys returned. They first inquired where their sister was. Winnie told them she had gone to see a friend in the neighbourhood.

They ran out of the house to look for Lydia but did not find her.

They returned and asked Winnie again and she told them that Lydia was in the kitchen sleeping.

On entering the house they saw the girl covered with a blanket. Robert uncovered her only to realise she was not breathing.

He went to call an uncle while Winnie went to call another woman, Pauline. She told Pauline that the girl was sick. Pauline checked the girl and established she was dead.

In no time, the homestead was streaming with shocked villagers. Joseph and Evelyn were also called from their work places.

Winnie stood by just watching as the neighbours agonised over what to do. Joseph and his sister Anna removed Lydia’s clothes and examined her body. She had marks of a rope around the neck, blood stained eyes and a dislocated hand.

Admitting liability

Police arrived shortly after and began interrogating Winnie. The girl opened up and told them that she had strangled Lydia using a sisal string, which she had then disposed of in a dam some 100 metres away.

Police escorted her to the dam and the string was recovered. She was immediately arrested and days later charged with the murder before a judge in Eldoret.

A post-mortem examination confirmed that Lydia had been strangulated. A thin line was identified cutting around the middle part of the neck.

Winnie gave unsworn evidence in court claiming she had been provoked by Lydia. She also claimed through her lawyer that she had acted in self-defence. In November 2001, the judge delivered a verdict.

What would be your verdict?