Out of court deals and intimidation affecting rape cases

Families of victims negotiating out-of-court settlements and intimidation of witnesses are to blame for the low conviction rate in defilement cases.

Only two of the 153 cases have seen offenders jailed at the Kisumu Law Courts over seven years.

According to records obtained by The Standard, only 11 cases have been fully prosecuted since 2008 and they either ended with rulings directing withdrawal or acquittal.

The court statistics indicate that in 2008, 27 defilement cases were filed at the court with no judgment delivered. Since January, eight have been recorded with no rulings done.

Women leaders and child defenders are now calling on the police and the Judiciary to speed up the prosecution of unresolved cases, saying most of the cases risk collapsing if they stay much longer.

Nominated MCA Farida Salim asked the courts to expedite the cases, as children have short memories and the longer the cases take the easier it is to interfere with the children’s narrations.

She also called for financial support for the Gender-based Violence Recovery Center at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH), and the public to report suspects in good time.

 LOW CONVICTIONS

Kisumu Principal Magistrate Thomas Obutu attributes the low convictions and the backlog of the cases to under-staffing of magistrates to handle the many cases, witnesses not showing up during the proceedings and even the parties involved negotiating and reaching a consensus without the court’s knowledge hence skipping court proceedings.

“So far we have been experiencing difficulties in handling defilement cases due to in adequate co-operation from the victim’s side, under staffing of magistrates and also the parties involved, especially the victim’s side pulling out of the cases,” said Mr Obutu.

He further said lawyers and the accused persons adjourn court sessions frequently to create time for the disappearance of the witnesses. Also, said Obutu, magistrates’ trainings and workshops when not properly scheduled eat into their time, which they would have used in the cases.

It was also noted that majority of the culprits fall in the age group of 30-50 years while the victims belong to the age group of two to 14 years old.

Obutu encouraged sensitisation of the public through churches, public administrations and schools.

Kisumu County Director of Children Affairs Charles Ondogo raised the same concern saying failure to decide on defilement cases in the region, is making perpetrators more confident as they roam freely.

“There is need for the authorities and courts to expedite defilement cases so that there is no room for negotiations between parents and the suspects,” said Mr Ondogo.

He said of a teacher in Seme who defiled a school girl, disappeared for a while after police went for him to only return shortly after.

In Siaya, High Court Judge Aaron Makau raised concerns over the increasing number of defilement cases. The judge noted that over 80 per cent of the appeal cases before him are defilement cases by the youth. “This is something we must address,” he said.