Homa Bay man gets life in prison for defiling his two daughters

A domestic quarrel saw two girls placed under the care of their father but that decision would expose them to harm that left a permanent mark in their lives.

The man who they trusted and called 'daddy' sexually abused them, an act that will now see him spend the rest of his natural life in prison. Sitting in Homa Bay, High Court Judge David Majanja dismissed an appeal filed by the man on grounds that the two girls did not testify. In his June 10 judgment, Justice Majanja said he did not find fault in imposing the life imprisonment since the man sexually abused his children. The children were eight and six years old.

"I do not find any fault in imposing the life sentence in respect of the first count as the appellant had he been charged and convicted of defilement would have been liable to a sentence of life imprisonment," he said.

Majanja noted that the evidence presented before the court indicated the man had sexually assaulted the children more than once.

The man was charged with two counts of incest contrary to the law. On the first count, he was accused that on September 6, 2013 at about 6am at a village (name withheld to protect the victims) in Homa Bay County, he defiled his daughter.

He faced the second count of defiling his second daughter on a similar date and place. The man faced two other alternative counts of committing an indecent act with children contrary to the law.

After the full trial, he was convicted on the first count and sentenced to life imprisonment and in the second alternative count to 15 years imprisonment. He appealed against the conviction and sentence on the grounds that the complainants did not testify.

In the appeal that was filed on December 9, 2014, the man contended that the children who were defiled were not called by the prosecution and that the prosecution did not prove its case. The respondents opposed his claims on grounds that the prosecution proved all the elements of the offence.

The two daughters gave unsworn testimony on how they were defiled by their father. The first victim said their father arrived home in the morning and found them sleeping and he committed the act on each of them.

Medical examination

The second victim, who testified through an intermediary, said she was six years old and would recall what happened that morning.

"My mother left us with our father and when she was away my father did something bad to us," said the prosecution witness.

She claimed that after the incident, she never told anyone but went to a crusade, adding that her father defiled her for the second time.

She then reported the incident to a neighbour. One of the Administration Police officers from the area said he was alerted by residents on September 7, 2013 about the incident.

A medical examination conducted from one of the hospitals indicated that indeed the children had been defiled and the accused was hence arrested.