An Eldoret court has sentenced a middle-aged man to a total of 12 years’ imprisonment after finding him guilty of two offenses related to gang rape and committing an indecent act with an adult.
Benson Simiyu was found guilty by Senior Principal Magistrate Kesse Cheronoh on the first count of gang rape contrary to section 10 of the Sexual Offences Act No. 3 and also on the second count of committing an indecent act with an adult contrary to section (A) of the Sexual Offences Act No. 3 of 2006.
In her judgment, Cheronoh highlighted that the prosecution had provided sufficient evidence during the trial against the convict to prove its case.
The charge against the convict stated that on January 15, 2025, in the Lower Colombo area in Turbo Sub County, Uasin Gishu County, he, alongside another person who is still at large, unlawfully raped the woman code-named S.M.
He pleaded not guilty to the offenses.
According to court documents, the accused person and his accomplice, who is yet to be arrested by the police, waylaid and accosted the victim on the material day at 9pm while on her way to the shop to buy food items for dinner.
The court heard that the two men attacked her by hitting her head with a metal rod, and she immediately fell on the ground while bleeding profusely.
In her evidence-in-chief during the hearing, the victim told the court that one of her attackers took her mobile phone while the other one took Sh 1,600, which was in her pocket.
They are said to have sexually assaulted her in turns after she became unconscious on the ground from the fatal injuries she sustained from the vicious attack.
She recalled that one of the attackers wore a jacket and had sparse hair on his head.
“I was wearing a dress and grey hooded jumper on the fateful night while heading to the shop to buy some items for dinner,” she told the court.
She told the court that after the rape ordeal, the accused persons abandoned her in the secluded field, leaving her for dead.
“I was later rushed to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital by good Samaritans, where I was examined and treated. I went to report the incident the following day to the Baharini police station and issued a duly signed P3 form,” added the woman.
In mitigation, the accused person pleaded with the court to forgive him, saying that it was his first time to be linked to the criminal offense.
“Your honor, I am the firstborn and the sole breadwinner of my family. My younger child’s mother died soon after giving birth to her, and I seek leniency of this court,” pleaded the accused person.
While delivering her judgment, the magistrate noted that she had considered the offense the accused person is charged with and also what he had stated in his mitigation.
“The accused committed a heinous act against the complainant. He severely assaulted the complainant, stole from her, and proceeded to rape her together with another assailant who was never arraigned in court. The sexual offence act gives a mandatory sentence and my hands
are tied,” concluded Cheronoh.
By Ekuwam Sylvester
