A -34-year-old man has been sentenced to four years imprisonment by a Kabarnet court after being found guilty of hitting his pregnant wife on the leg with a stone causing grievous harm.
Letete Lomochiba had been accused that on November 7, 2025, at around 11pm at Marsabit Village in Ribkwo location within Tiaty Central Sub-county, Baringo County, he intentionally and unlawfully hit his wife, Chepkite Korii on the leg using a stone causing grievous harm.
The accused who appeared before Senior Principal Magistrate (SPM) Purity Koskey on Tuesday and admitted committing the offence was charged with causing grievous harm contrary to section 234 of the penal code.
The wife while testifying against the father of her children told the court that on the material day she had sold firewood at around noon and the husband arrived home at 10pm and ordered her to leave the house immediately for no apparent reason.
Korii told the court that knowing her husband’s arrogance, she had no choice but to leave with the baby and seek refuge at her mother’s residence which was not far.
“While we were asleep, he arrived at the homestead armed with a stick, he began throwing stones at the house, forcing us to move outside. Some of the stones even hit my mother and sister injuring them,” narrated Korii.
The complainant informed the court that after being hit on the leg by the stone, she crawled into a nearby bush under the cover of darkness with her baby where they stayed until morning before seeking treatment at Chemolingot sub county hospital where a plaster was cast on the leg.
She pleaded with the court to continue remanding the suspect in custody describing him as a threat to her safety and that of her children noting that he had been violent for a long time and expressed fear that he could harm them again if released.
Members of the community, through a village elder, supported the plea for a custodial sentence by explaining to the court that the accused was troublesome, arrogant and that his behaviour had caused concern within the society.
In mitigation, the accused who looked remorseful pleaded with the court to forgive him saying,” I have young children and my mother who relies on me for survival. I seek for leniency,”
The prosecution, who called six witnesses to prove the case against the accused beyond reasonable doubt, told the court to treat him as a first offender.
SPM Koskey in her ruling stated that after considering testimony of the complainant corroborated by members of public, it is clear that a concrete case has been proved against the accused.
The magistrate further stated that the case has been aggravated by the fact that the woman was pregnant during the time of incident.
Ms Kosgey noted that to deter such cases of gender-based violence on sharp rise in the region, there is need to award the accused a custodial jail term and went ahead to sentence him to four years imprisonment to act as an example to others.
However, the magistrate gave him 14 days’ right of appeal if dissatisfied with the ruling.
by Naomi Kipsang and Joshua Kibet
