KIAMBU, Kenya June 29 -A guard at Alliance Girls High School was on June 28 arrested after he was accused of defiling a 16-year-old female student within the school compound.
According to the police, the incident happened on the night of June 20 but was reported to the police a week later.
The school’s principal Jedida Mwangi informed officers at Kikuyu police station who visited the school where they established that the night guard on duty had defiled the female student earlier.
The officers interrogated the student and an identification parade, involving all night guards, was conducted. The victim positively identified the guard.
“Later, an identification parade was conducted involving all night guards where the perpetrator was positively identified by the victim as security guard Daniel Pango, an employee of Ideal Security Company,” police said.
The minor was escorted to Wanginge Hospital for medical examination where it was confirmed that she had actually been defiled.
In a related case in Teso North, a primary school teacher was arrested after he was found in a lodging with a 15-year-old student.
Police officers were informed that Joseph Omusingu Omusolo, a teacher at Angurai primary school, was with the student at Angurai Bar and Restaurant and they rushed to the scene.
Officers managed to rescue them from the angry members of the public and escorted them to Moding police station.
On Monday June 26, a man accused of defiling a 13-year-old girl in Baringo was also charged Kabarnet Law Courts.
Appearing before Senior Resident Magistrate Edwin Mulochi, the accused, Justine Ruto, denied the charges and was released on a bond of Sh300,000.
Ruto is alleged to have defiled the minor on June 18, 2023, at his home in Bartum location, Baringo North. The hearing of the case is scheduled on July 19, 2023.
According to the Economic Survey 2023, there was a decrease in both rape and defilement cases. Defilement accounted for 76.8 per cent of the number of persons reported to have committed crimes against morality followed by rape at 11.5 per cent.
Of the 827 persons who committed rape, 35 were female while another 115 of the 5530 persons involved in defilement were also female.
According to police records, there was an increase in defilement cases in March 2023.
Some of the victims were defiled by their fathers, while others by their grandfathers, raising fears that defilement in the family was drastically rising.
In one of the cases Kyuso, Kitui County, a pupil at Tulanduli primary school was defiled by the father at their home. Her teacher noticed that she was walking with difficulty and asked what had happened.
The victim later revealed that she was defiled by the father, aged 43.
Police however say most cases go unreported, making it difficult to get the actual figures.
The situation is further exacerbated by the naivety nature of children that make them most vulnerable to perpetrators, according to the police.
Under the Sexual Offences Act, a person who commits an offence of defilement with a child aged 11 years or less shall upon conviction be sentenced to imprisonment for life.
However, if the victim is aged between 12 and 15 the accused is liable to imprisonment for a term not less than 20 years.
The Office of Director of Public Prosecutions has also warned that some prosecutors are allowing negotiations and entering into plea bargain in sexual offences contrary to law.
Former DPP Noordin Haji last month directed that sexual offences must be prosecuted to finality through trial and should not be resolved by alternative means.
“Prosecution counsels have been getting in plea bargaining applying diversion in criminal cases under Sexual Offenses Act. Negotiating and entering into plea bargaining is not only illegal but a miscarriage of justice,” the former DPP said.
Withdrawal of cases, plea bargain and diversion are allowed in law.
Both diversion and plea bargain seek to keep the wheels of justice moving in a timely and cost effective manner, without necessarily resorting to full judicial proceedings if they can be resolved by alternative means.
However, Section 137N of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) states that this does not apply to offences under the Sexual Offences Act and offences of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
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