15-year-old girl infected me with HIV, accused tells court

A man alleged to have defiled and impregnated a 15-year-old girl has accused the minor of infecting him with HIV.

Appearing yesterday before Kakamega Principal Magistrate Hazel Wandere, the man said he acted as a Good Samaritan by offering shelter to the girl who claimed she had been kicked out of home.

The man, who is charged with defiling the minor between March 10, 2017 and March 22, 2017 in Buhala village, said the girl arrived at his home early in the morning crying, and begged to stay with him.

The girl, he said, told him she had spent the night in a sugarcane plantation.

“The girl told me her parents had refused to educate her and had given her two options; to get married or seek employment as a house help,” he said.

The accused added that the girl informed him that she was 19 and requested that he marries her.

The man said he was planning to write to the teenager's parents, seeking permission to marry her.

He said he meant well and even gave the girl his mobile phone to call her mother and inform her that she was safe.

The accused told the court that the girl informed him that she was pregnant after two weeks of staying with him.

“The girl asked me what I would do in case I found out she had infected me with HIV. I was shocked later during the medical examination when we were both diagnosed with the deadly virus. I believe she infected me with the virus,” he said.

Judgement will be delivered on October 13.