By GASTONE VALUSI
A man convicted of raping a 72-year-old woman in Kitanga village, Mwala Sub-County, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison in a case the court said had cast a dark shadow over the community.
In case number MCSO/E003/2025, Republic v Kennedy Mutisya Kioko, Wamunyu Magistrates Court found Kennedy Mutisya Kioko guilty of rape contrary to Section 3(1)(a) and (b) of the Sexual Offences Act.
Senior Resident Magistrate Pascal Nabwana delivered the judgment on September 10, 2026, convicting Kioko over the assault, which occurred on the night of January 16–17, 2025.
The accused, who represented himself during the trial, had denied the charge.
According to the judgment, the complainant, identified as A.N.M., told the court that Kioko entered her hut through a door with a faulty lock, grabbed her by the neck and strangled her before sexually assaulting her despite her pleas.
She testified that it was not the first time the accused had forced his way into her home.
The court heard that the complainant was visibly distressed while testifying and showed the magistrate healing scars on both hands. She also complained of pain in her hand and vaginal area.
Because of her age and distress, she found it difficult to describe the assault in explicit terms.
“You are young children for me to use direct language. He relieved his sexual urges in me,” she told the court.
After the incident, the woman reported the matter to a village elder, who referred her to the assistant chief. She was later taken to hospital, accompanied by her daughter-in-law.
The daughter-in-law, who testified as prosecution witness two, said she met the complainant on January 17, 2025, as she returned from the assistant chief’s office. The woman told her that Kioko had broken into her house and raped her.
When asked why she had not screamed during the assault, the complainant said the accused had covered her mouth and strangled her.
A doctor at Mwala Level Four Hospital, who testified as prosecution witness three, told the court that he examined the complainant on January 17, 2025, and found injuries consistent with sexual assault.
These included bruising on both forearms, swelling and bruising of the lips, torn clothing and fresh bruises measuring two centimetres on the labia majora and labia minora.
The doctor produced the treatment notes, P3 form and post-rape care form as evidence. He concluded that the signs of violence and evidence of penetration were consistent with rape.
Police Constable Benard Mburu testified on behalf of the original investigating officer, PC (W) Margaret Wangari, who had been transferred to Ruaraka Police Station.
The court heard that investigations established that the woman had been raped in her house on the night of January 16, 2025.
In determining the case, the magistrate considered whether penetration had been proved, whether it occurred without the complainant’s consent, whether Kioko was responsible and whether his defence raised reasonable doubt.
On identification, the court found that the case involved recognition rather than identification of a stranger.
The complainant testified that she already knew Kioko as her neighbour and said he had assaulted her previously. Her daughter-in-law corroborated the evidence that the accused was a neighbour, clarifying that he was not a relative.
In his unsworn defence, Kioko denied committing the offence and raised an alibi, claiming he had spent the material day at Kamwala Secondary School transporting sand using ox-drawn carts.
He said that when the assistant chief and four young men went to his home the following day, he admitted to the offence out of fear of being lynched by a mob. He claimed he subsequently agreed to accompany them to the police station.
Kioko maintained that he had been held in remand for an offence he did not commit.
The court accepted that an admission made under the threat of mob violence could not be treated as a voluntary confession and attached no weight to it.
However, the magistrate found that the accused’s alibi was unsupported by witnesses or verifiable details and could not outweigh the consistent and corroborated evidence presented by the complainant, her daughter-in-law and the doctor.
The court concluded that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that Kioko had intentionally and unlawfully penetrated the complainant without her consent.
“Accordingly, and by dint of Section 215 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the accused is hereby found to have intentionally and unlawfully penetrated the complainant, A.N.M., without her consent, on the night of 16th to 17th January 2025,” the court ruled.
“The accused is accordingly found guilty of the offence of rape contrary to Section 3(1)(a) and (b) of the Sexual Offences Act, and is convicted as charged,” it added.
The alternative charge of committing an indecent act with an adult, contrary to Section 11A of the Sexual Offences Act, was not considered after the court found the main charge proved.
