Woman begs court to let her die at home

By Kenan Miruka

A woman stunned a Gucha court when she asked to be allowed to die near her home saying she suffered a deadly disease.

Hephzibah Kwamboka a.k.a Mokobi said this after she was jailed for a year for unlawfully assaulting a five-year-old boy occasioning him actual bodily harm.

She committed the offence on October 18, last year at Boikanga sub location in Gucha South District.

The court heard that on that day, the boy was at home with his siblings when Kwamboka arrived and demanded to be given a cup of water.

He told her their mother was away so they could not give her water. Angry, Kwamboka chased the boy saying an uncircumcised brat had no right to answer her back.

She bit him on the left arm and hit him on the head with a stone. He was helped by an older child.

The boy’s younger sister told the court that she applied salt to the wound as they waited for their mother’s return.

A medical examination presented in court indicated the boy suffered injuries from human bites.

In his ruling, Ogembo District Magistrate Mwaniki Kamau observed: "The fact that she insulted and chased the boy into a farm showed she was intent on dealing with the child as an adult."

In mitigation, Kwamboka said she was a mother of two, one in Form Four and another in Baby Class and that her husband was old.

"My other children died and villagers have tried to disrupt my family. I am HIV positive so I request to be given a chance to die at home," she said in mitigation.

Kamau ordered that she serves her sentence at Kisii Women’s Prison.