Man in court for stealing ex-wife's Sh28,000 camera

A Mwiki beautician claims his ex-wife of three months accused him of stealing a camera after he dumped her for another woman.

Augustine Nyongesa was arraigned for allegedly stealing a Sony camera worth Sh 28,000 on the property of Fridah Nkatha Kamau on February 3. Alternatively, he has been accused of handling stolen goods.

"Otherwise, in the course of stealing, dishonestly retained a camera having reason to believe it to be stolen property," the charge sheet read.

In his defence, Nyongesa told Makadara Senior Resident Magistrate Lewis Gatheru that he was cohabiting with Nkatha but she used to abuse him and even fell out with neighbours and the landlady evicted them.

"Fridah moved in with me but it was not long before we were evicted due to her bad habits towards the neighbour. Even when we were at the new house, she kept disrespecting me until when I decided to move although she did not take it lightly," he said. The court further heard that Nyongesa left his house with few clothes and a bed to start life.

"When she learned that I was leaving her, she told me that she had moved on with a Recce Squad guy and I confirmed to her that I also got married to a teacher. She would constantly come to my house to create disturbance despite the fact that we had broken up. Seven months later, she reported to the police that I had stolen her camera which had been stashed inside a bag which had clothes," he said.

He added: "At some point, she brought police to my house and when they did not find me, one of the officers slapped my then heavily pregnant wife before locking her up in the cells. I also spent three days in police cells."

Nyongesa called one of his witnesses who corroborated his testimony. The case will be heard on October 6.