Milimani law court. [PHOTO/Courtesy]
A 64-year-old man has been handed a life imprisonment by the High Court for defiling his 6-year-old granddaughter.
The judge ruled that 10 years was not enough punishment for the crime.
Joseph Macharia had sought to decrease his original 10-year sentence given in Baricho for the two counts of defilement and incest.
The accused had earlier told the court that he was being framed because of a land dispute.
The court however enhanced the imprisonment to sentence to life.
Justice Lucy Gitari said that the 10-year-sentence earlier imposed by a magistrate was not lawful.
She said that despite being shown the minor's birth certificate to prove her age, the magistrate had gone ahead and handed Macharia 10 years which she said did not match the law.
The Sexual Offences Act provides only for a life imprisonment in such cases.
“The sentence imposed by the trial magistrate was clearly wrong. It overlooked a material factor in sentencing, the age of the victim, which was crucial in determining the sentence to be imposed,” Gitari said.
“She is an innocent child. There is no reason to doubt her evidence,” the judge said.
“I find that it is proved that the complainant was the grandfather and he was properly charged with the offence of incest. The prosecution proved that there was penetration of a minor aged six years,” Gitari said.
“I find it is too late to allege that he did not understand the language. I will therefore interfere with the sentence. I set aside the sentence of 10 years”.