A police officer in Homa Bay has been arrested on accusation of defiling a Form One student, who was under a child protection programme at a police station.
Constable Kelvin Muturi was arrested on Tuesday evening at his work station in Rangwe following orders from the Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecution (ODPP).
Muturi is accused of repeatedly sexually abusing the 15-year-old girl on diverse dates between January and September.
POLICE STATION
Homa Bay County Directorate of Criminal Investigations boss Daniel Wachira said the suspect infringed on the sexual rights of the girl.
Mr Wachira said the victim, who is an orphan, was staying at the police station after she allegedly ran away from her guardian’s home in September.
Mr Wachira said the minor was staying in a police cell.
“The child was being held in a police cell because the station does not have a special place where children in such cases can be kept,” Mr Wachira said.
During her stay at the station, Muturi reportedly sneaked into the cell where the minor was staying and took her to his house.
The girl’s family said in a police report that they noticed that something was amiss after the girl started skipping school early this year. They later discovered that Muturi was having a sexual relationship with the minor and was her money. When the girl was confronted, she ran away from her guardian’s home and sought refuge at the police station.
The girl’s family reported the matter to the police and an investigation was launched.
FRESH TRIAL
In a separate incident, the High Court in Siaya on Tuesday quashed a life sentence handed to a man who was found guilty of defiling a minor by a Magistrate Court in Ukwala early this year.
The convict, Peter Odhiambo Otieno, moved to the High Court in March to appeal the February judgement by Senior Resident Magistrate C. I Agutu.
The lower court had found him guilty of defiling a 15-year-old girl.
While delivering the verdict, the magistrate said the prosecution proved their case beyond reasonable doubt.
But on Tuesday, Judge Roseline Aburili said the proceedings leading to the conviction of the appellant and eventual sentencing for life were irregular as the trial magistrate failed to observe basic procedure as the law demand.
She therefore ordered quashing of the conviction and set aside the sentence.
“Since the omissions were by court and not by the prosecution, I further order for a retrial before a different magistrate at Ukwala other than the previous one,” she ordered.
She directed that the matter be mentioned Thursday at the Ukwala Law Courts for fresh plea taking.
The man who had been serving the sentence at Kodiaga Prison for 10 months walked out a free man and his early bond terms in the previous trial will apply.