A man has been sentenced to 20 years in jail by a Nakuru court after he was found guilty of raping an 84-year-old woman.
John Muiru was facing charges of raping RM, a crime he reportedly committed on August 13, 2018 at Kinari in Dundori Location, Nakuru County.
Delivering his ruling on Tuesday, Principal Magistrate Bernard Mararu said the prosecution has proven its case, adding that the charges against the accused were serious.
“All the evidence by the seven prosecution witnesses were consistent and corroborated each other. It was overwhelming,” the magistrate said as quoted by Standard.
During the case hearing, the elderly woman in her testimony told the court that on the material date, she was attacked from behind while harvesting potatoes on her shamba.
The court heard that the suspect covered her face during the attack, and put a dirty cloth in her mouth to prevent her from screaming, but she was able to identify the accused after he released her.
“When I removed the cloth covering my face, I saw the accused running. He had short hair, a yellow T-shirt and was small in body size. I screamed for help,” she testified.
Medical records presented in court showed that the woman’s mouth was swollen after the attack and she lost two teeth and had bleeding wounds and her left leg was bruised.
The accused was arrested after the complainant alerted neighbors and pupils who cornered, and almost lynched him.
Zachary Kinaya, the investigating officer, told the court the accused who was arrested by the public and pupils, had admitted that the dirty cloth which had the complainant’s blood was his.
“The children were so many and each gave the same account. After interrogation, I decided to charge the accused with rape,” said Kinaya.
A class eight pupil at Kinari Primary School in his testimony said he saw the accused running from the scene and they followed him in the market where he was caught.
Magistrate Mararu sentenced him to 20 years imprisonment but gave him 14 days to appeal.