Three women were on Wednesday arraigned before a Kisumu court for stealing mitumba clothes. Agnes Namutola, Purity Akoth and Imeldah Imali denied stealing the clothes at Kibuye Market in Kusumu, on April 25. They appeared before Kisumu chief magistrate Catherine Owino. The three were arrested last week on Thursday at Kibuye market. They also denied a second count of resisting arrest. The court heard that on the material day in the evening, there was a commotion at the market and the three are said to have taken advantage of the situation. They allegedly conspired with boda boda operators to steal the clothes from Hatriet Otuma, while she was busy packing other clothes as she had finished the day’s business. Akoth and Imali, however, complained about police harassment while in police custody.
Owino ordered that the matter be investigated and a full report be presented before the court during the next hearing. They were freed on a Sh5,000 cash bail each with surety of a similar amount pending the hearing of the case on July 5.