Acrimonious End: Businessman Jailed For Assaulting His Employee Of 23 Years

NAIROBI Kenya April 28 -A Nairobi businessman was on Friday jailed for one year or pay a fine of Sh200 000 after he was found guilty of assaulting his worker of 23 years.

Milimani Chief Magistrate Susan Chitubi found Bhupendrakumar Premchand Shah 68, guilty of assaulting his worker Grace Asami Bwabe in June 2021.

The complainant had gone to Laxmi Plaza along Biashara street in Nairobi to demand her dues of Sh949,000 since she was retiring.

​In her ruling Shitubi said that Bwabe had worked for Shah for 23 years in which 10 of those years were in his house as a house help and the rest in his business premises in the city centre where she used to make tea for him.

“The complainant had come to your office demanding payment of her dues and totaling totalling to Shs949 000 as she wanted to retire. You attacked by slapping her in the kitchen as you refused to accept her retirement,” stated Shitubi.

On his part Shah in his statement had indicated that the accused had broken his chair which caused altercation that led to her reporting the assault complaint.

In his mitigation Shah asked the court to give him a non-custodial sentence saying that he was remorseful for the action he took of assaulting his former employee.

He further claimed that he was faced with ill health due to his advanced age.

“I have considered what Shah has said in his mitigation and being a first offender and his advanced age I find it not proper for him to punish an employee coming to her to seek for her right. I therefore order that he pay a fine of Sh200 000 or serve a jail term of one year,” the magistrate said.