A Kenyan court sentenced a man to 27 years imprisonment after being found guilty of rape this week on Monday. The Sexual Offences Act defines rape as unlawful penetration of another person’s genital organs using any part of the body or an object.
The 27 years conviction of Simon Mwita Mwere who raped his cleaning lady (Mama Fua) stirred a lot of emotions online with some opining that the sentence should have been longer.
According to the Sexual Offences Act, one is guilty of a sexual offence if they unlawfully penetrate the genital organs of another person with a part of his body or someone else’s body or an object.
Additionally, any person who commits rape, gang rape or defilement risks imprisonment for a term not less than 15 years.
Defilement
According to the Sexual Offences Act, a person guilty of defilement is one who causes penetration on a child. The penalties differ according to the age of the child.
If one defiles a child aged 11 years and below, they are sentenced to life imprisonment. A person found guilty of defiling a child aged between 12 to 15 years risks imprisonment of not less than 20 years.
Finally, if the child is aged 16 to 18 years, the perpetrator is sentenced to a term not less than 15 years. There is only one defence in defilement cases; if the accused can prove that he had reason to believe that the child was of legal age for instance the minor lied to them.
Man sentenced to 27 years for rape
Simon Mwita Mwere was sentenced to 27 years in prison for locking up, beating, abusing, and raping his domestic worker.
The woman who has only been identified as “H” was working as a “mama fua” (laundry lady) at the time of the horrific incident.
Njeri wa Migwi, a Kenyan human rights defender and the founder of Usikimye Foundation, an organization that provides refuge and support for victims of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in Kenya, took to X to share the huge breakthrough in the case.
“We walked this journey with H and yesterday was sentencing. We never missed court, accompanied her. He threatened us all. We kept on. 27 years in jail. Fin” read the statement
The sentencing took place on Monday May 27, 2024 after a long and difficult legal battle supported by the local organization.
“Having considered all the above mentioned factors and the circumstances surrounding this case and the amount of time the accused person has spent in custody. I hereby sentence the accused person Simon Mwita Mwere to 27 years imprisonment with effect from today the 27th day of March 2024,” part of the court ruling read.
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