Woman narrates to court, how neighbour assaulted her

A woman moved a Kabarnet court Wednesday, when she painfully narrated how she has been physically assaulted three times by her neighbour, who boasted to be rich and that nobody would dare touch him.
Lorna Kipkurui testifying against John Tilion, charged with assaulting her occasioning actual bodily harm told the court, “Your honour this is the third time the accused has assaulted me while issuing threats.”
Tilion had been accused that on August 9, 2019 at Lake Base Estate in Lake Baringo, Marigat Sub County, he assaulted the complainant causing her bodily harm contrary to the law.
The complainant told Senior Principal Magistrate (SPM) Paul Biwott that on the material day at around 9pm, she had finished preparing supper, when she heard her husband quarreling with the accused outside their house.
The complainant said she came out of the house and asked her husband what was wrong and he informed her that he was talking on phone, when the accused approached from nowhere, demanding to know why he was selling his shamba through the phone.
The woman told the court that she pleaded with the husband to stop the quarrel and go to the house, leaving the accused outside still hurling insults at the man.
While inside the house, the complainant said, she peeped through the window and immediately the accused picked a stone and hit her by the ribs, sending her sprawling on the ground, when she fell unconscious for some time.
Upon regaining conscious, Lorna told the court, she found her husband and the accused on the ground fighting each other and she screamed calling for help from neighbours.
“Your honour, the accused had formed a habit of assaulting people, claiming to be super rich and without fear of the police claiming, ‘Nobody can take me anywhere’,” she said.
The complainant said when neighbours refused to respond, she rushed to Marigat police station where she reported the matter and recorded a statement before heading to Baringo county referral hospital, Kabarnet, where an X-ray was done to facilitate issuance of a P3 form.
When the magistrate asked the accused if he had anything to say before adjourning the case, he asked the court to reduce his cash bail of Sh10, 000 or alternative personal bond of Sh 20, 000 with one surety of similar amount, a request the court declined.
Biwott adjourned the case until October 8, 2019 when hearing will resume, with more witnesses expected to be lined up to give their testimonies.
By Sheila Cheruiyot/Joshua Kibet