August 7, 2010: Five year out Mary Jane (not her real name) was playing near her home in Kesses village Eldoret when Boaz Kemboi approached her and grabbed her hand.
According to Mary, Kemboi lifted her up, took her to a nearby maize plantation where he undressed her then defiled her as he covered her mouth with his hand.
He then left her there and Mary slowly made her way back home. She did not tell anyone what happened.
Two days later on August 9, 2010, Mary’s mother noticed her daughter was walking with difficulty and when she bathed the child, she noticed a whitish discharge coming out of Mary’s genitals.
She immediately contacted her neighbour Nelly who also examined the child and found that she had been defiled. The two women immediately reported the matter at Kesses Police Post then took Mary to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital.
At the hospital, Mary was examined and Dr Florence Jaguga found there were bruises on Mary’s private parts, and her hymen had been torn which was proof of penile penetration.
Kemboi was arrested and charged with defilement. He was arraigned before the chief magistrate’s court where he was convicted and sentenced to 30 years imprisonment.
He appealed the conviction claiming he was innocent and that it was Mary’s uncle who had defiled the girl. He also insisted there was no proof that Mary was five years old at the time of the incident.
His appeal was however, thrown out by Court of Appeal judges on April 29, 2016.
Sitting in Eldoret, judges David Maraga, Agnes Murgor and Stephen Kairu said that Mary did not report the incident on the day she was defiled, but waited two days, was not sufficient to strike off the defilement charge. The appellate judges also determined that the victim’s age had been ascertained by a medial doctor and was therefore valid, despite Kemboi’s protests.
The judges then substituted the 30 year sentence handed to Kemboi life imprisonment as stipulated in law for the offence of defilement.
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