Former beauty pageant winner Ruth Kamande, who is currently serving a death sentence in Lang’ata Women’s Prison, has been granted the opportunity to appeal her sentence at the Supreme Court.

This decision comes after her initial appeal was rejected at the Court of Appeal.

Kamande was convicted of the gruesome murder of her boyfriend, Farid Mohamed Halim, in 2015.

She was found guilty of stabbing him 25 times in their Buru Buru residence, with witnesses reporting Halim’s cries for help before the police arrived, only to find him already dead.

The post-mortem examination confirmed that he died due to multiple injuries and blood loss from the penetrating force trauma inflicted upon him.

In November 2020, Kamande’s previous appeal to overturn her conviction and sentence was unsuccessful.

However, her latest appeal is centered around the claim of suffering from battered women syndrome.

Her lawyer, Githu Muigai, argues that individuals who claim self-defense in cases of domestic violence should be considered for reduced charges.

While Muigai’s previous argument for a lesser charge of manslaughter based on self-defense was unsuccessful, he now asserts that this new appeal raises crucial issues related to the battered women syndrome and the standards of proof for self-defense claims.

The submission also emphasizes the importance of protecting and advancing the rights of domestic violence victims in line with the Protection Against Domestic Violence Act.

Kamande argues that the prosecution did not adequately challenge her self-defense claim during her trial, and the court did not adequately consider it.

Surprisingly, the prosecution did not oppose her application to appeal, believing it is in the public interest to examine the raised issues more extensively at the Supreme Court.

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The Court of Appeal agreed with this perspective, considering the grounds for appeal as potential novel issues of law deserving the Supreme Court’s attention.

The court acknowledged that the concept of battered women syndrome is relatively unexplored in the country, making it a matter of significant public interest.

In a statement, the three-judge bench explained, “We have looked at the issues that have been raised by the applicant and note that the issue surrounding battered women syndrome is relatively unexplored in the country and has had not so many decisions on the same.

“We feel the same be given a window for interrogation by the Supreme Court.”

Consequently, the Court of Appeal granted Kamande’s application to appeal her death sentence at the Supreme Court.