A Bungoma court has sentenced a 38-year-old man, Job Wafula Lukhale, to life imprisonment after he was found guilty of defiling a four-year-old nursery school pupil in Myanga village in December 2024.
In a statement on Wednesday, September 17, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) said the sentence was delivered by Senior Resident Magistrate M.A. Onyango after the prosecution conclusively proved the case.
In her ruling, the magistrate noted that the Prosecution conclusively established the three key ingredients of the offense under Section 8(1) and (4) of the Sexual Offenses Act.
“I find that the prosecution has proved the three ingredients of the offense of defilement and I proceed to convict the accused,” ruled Onyango.
The court heard that three witnesses positively identified the accused after he was found in a thicket with the minor. This evidence, which went unchallenged, was instrumental in linking Lukhale directly to the crime.
A pre-sentencing report presented in court detailed the severe physical, emotional, and psychological trauma suffered by the young victim.
The child’s mother also testified to the lingering effects of the ordeal, noting that the incident continues to haunt her daughter and has caused her abdominal complications.
Prosecution, led by Wycliffe Minishi, Grace Gachau, and Recheal Karani, called seven witnesses. Their thorough presentation of evidence and careful handling of the case ensured that justice was delivered for the victim.
This comes days after a Kilifi farmer was sentenced to 15 years in prison for defiling his 14-year-old daughter.
The man was found guilty of the offence and handed the sentence after the court ruled that the prosecution had proved the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
The accused was charged with defilement contrary to Section 201(1) of the Sexual Offences Act No. 3 of 2006. He also faced an alternative count of committing an indecent act with a child contrary to Section 11(1) of the same Act.
The offense occurred on diverse dates between September 2023 and October 15, 2023, in the Rojorojo area of Kilifi County.
The prosecution told the court that the accused repeatedly defiled his daughter and threatened to harm her if she revealed the ordeal.
The case took a turning point when the minor bravely disclosed the abuse in a handwritten letter to her headteacher. Moved by the disclosure, the headteacher immediately rescued the child and reported the matter to the police, leading to the arrest and successful prosecution of the accused.
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