Tout sentenced to hang for killing baby

Kenya: A tout who murdered a four-month-old girl and dumped her body in a pit latrine five years ago has been sentenced to hang.

The child belonged to Monica Wanjiku, whom he was with in a come-we-stay relationship. The two had lived together for three months.

On the night of April 22, 2009 in Kiangombe village in Embakasi, Nairobi County, Peter Kinyua Mwangi strangled the child, and before she died, he placed her on the bed. He then pushed Wanjiku to the bed.

Wanjiku, however, managed to free herself and in anger the accused hit the baby on the ground where she succumbed, after which he disposed of her body in a pit latrine.

“He implored her to forget about the baby because they could later have their own baby. He even invited her to go back to bed,” the prosecution had told the court.

Wanjiku screamed for help but neighbours did not make it on time to rescue the child.

Justice Nicholas Ombija said in his judgement that Mwangi, 30, turned his anger on Wanjiku. He went for her neck, pulled her braided hair and strangled her, saying the baby was a ‘jini’ (ghost) in the house.

However, Wanjiku managed to disentangle herself from the man she had been married to in a come-we-stay arrangement. She then asked him where the baby was and he said he had thrown the ‘rat’ in the latrine. Mwangi asked his wife to sober up because they were going to have a human child since the one he had killed was an ‘evil spirit’.

Prosecutor Mercy Ikol asked the court to pass a harsh penalty, noting that the accused had earlier been charged in another court for giving false information. The prosecution called seven witnesses. According to a postmortem examination report, the cause of death was blunt trauma.

Ombija said the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and that Mwangi harboured malice before committing the heinous act.

The judge agreed with the prosecution assertions that the accused committed the offence.

“After carefully analysing the evidence, I find and hold that it is the accused who caused the death of the deceased by strangling her, apart from lying on top of the mother with the child below her on bed,” he said.

Ombija added: “The prosecution has proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and I sentence the accused to suffer death in the manner prescribed under the law. He is inhuman, brutal and heartless and he therefore does not deserve mercy from this court.”

APPEAL SENTENCE

Ombija also said the fact that Mwangi had earlier been charged with giving false information reinforced the prosecution case against him. “I had advantage of assessing the demeanor of the accused. He appeared to me as a person who is economical with the truth while on the other hand the wife appears as the witness of the truth and accordingly, I rest my judgment on her testimony,” he said.

In her testimony, Wanjiku said she had known Mwangi for three months before she delivered her baby. She said on the fateful night, they retired to bed at around 11pm but Mwangi woke up at 2am, lit a candle, then put it off claiming there were ‘evil spirits’ in the house.

She said he lifted her and placed her on top of the child as she struggled to free herself. She managed to free herself and that is the time he strangled the baby despite her pleas. However, Mwangi denied the charge. In mitigation, his lawyer Daniel Mathenge pleaded with the court to hand him a lenient sentence, arguing he had spent five years in custody. Mwangi has 14 days to appeal the sentence.