Iten Court stunned as part of human skull produced in a case

By Fred Kibor

ITEN, KENYA: An Iten court was on Friday stunned when part of a human skull was produced in court as an exhibit in a case where a 25-year-old man was accused of causing grievous harm to his neighbour.

Shocked residents who had attended the court for cases scampered when word went round that a portion of human skull was inside the courtroom inside a brown envelope.

This was during the final hearing of a case where Paul Cheboi, was accused of unlawfully cut his neighbour, Nickson Cheserek, with a panga inflicting serious head injuries on November 11, 2005 in Embobut in sub-location of Marakwet East district.

Iten Resident Magistrate Nicodemus Moseti found the accused guilty and sentenced him to 18 years in prison.

The court heard that on the material day, the complainant, Cheserek and his wife  were weeding at their farm when the accused in company of two other men approached them.

“The accused asked me for fire to light a cigarette,” testified the complainant in court.

Together with the accused and the other men, he added, went to his house which was not far from the farm and proceeded to the kitchen to give the accused fire to light cigarette but inside the house, the accused asked for a panga saying that he wanted to cut poles to repair at his farm.

“I pointed at where the panga was but when I was about to hand him a burning piece of wood I was surprised to see him aiming at my neck,” narrated Mr Cheserek.

He dived but the panga hit him on the forehead smashing the skull and also injuring the neck. The bones were brought to the court and used as an exhibit.

The daughter to the complainant, who was in the compound at the time of the incident seeing her father on the ground bleeding profusely, screamed attracting the mother and villagers.

The girl told the court how the accused repeated the words ‘I have killed him and he will never recover’ before fleeing with the other two men and went into hiding until last year, seven years later when he was arrested at Chesegon market and taken to the local police station where he was charged with the offence.

The complainant was rushed to Tot sub-district hospital and was referred to Kapsowar mission hospital for specialized treatment where he was treated but traditional neurosurgeons later performed a surgery and used a goat’s skin to seal the hole in his skull.

In his mitigation the accused asked the court for leniency saying his father was mentally unstable and has two children who depend on him.

“The court after analyzing the prosecution witness and the exhibits in support of the case has found the evidence consistent and efficient to secure a conviction,” said the magistrate.

In a 20 page ruling where six witnesses testified in court, the magistrate said that the accused committed the offence in wanton disregard of human life besides occasioning permanent and life threatening injuries to the complainant and it needs deterrence.

He therefore handed him 18 years in jail. The accused has 14 days to lodge and appeal.