By Rodgers Omondi, Busia
Two men from Busia county have been sentenced to life imprisonment while the third one got a sentence of 15 years in prison for defilement by Busia law court Principal magistrate Symphie Makila.
According to the magistrate, the first case involved a male adult Sylvanus Okumu 62 yrs of age in sexual offences case no.4 2023. The case involved a minor of 9 years of age both from Nangina village in Samia Subcounty.
“The offence occurred on 28 dec 2022 at around 7 pm when the mine had gone to the latrine, the accused followed her as they were watching tv in the house. He defiled her outside the latrine. Witnesses were called to that effect, the accused denied but the evidence was overwhelming resulting in a sentence of life imprisonment” she said.
The magistrate indicated the second case was a sexual offences case no.107 /2023 involving Stephen Nekesa, a male adult with a complainant who is aged 12 years old from Butula Sub county.
“The accused was found guilty of having engaged in sexual intercourse with his 12years old half-sister. His sister was taking food to him in his house at around 9 pm and the accused pulled her in and defiled her. The father and village elder were able to retrieve the minor from the house of the accused person. We have sentenced him to life imprisonment.” She said.
The third case involved Slyvester Bushuru Nyongesa, a male adult of 38 years old, an incident that occurred between May to June 2023 at Sidende Sublocation Nambale Sub County.
“The complaint is a minor of 16 years old and the accused is her neighbor. The accused person defiled the complainant for about 4 occasions and was found guilty where he was sentenced to 15 years in prison.” She said.
The magistrate expressed her frustration in an increasing number of defilement cases singling out traditional beliefs as one of the causes.
“There are many defilements cases on young children in Busia County. On a working day we sometimes receive as. There is also another issue where a girl matures quickly but on this, the law doesn’t recognize the aspect of maybe the girl looked mature. As long as she is under 18 years old, we will sentence you accordingly.” She said.
Makila urged the members of the public to be at the forefront of protecting children and report any case of defilement for proper action to be taken. The sentenced men have 14 days to appeal the sentence.
“The challenge towards delivering justice to our children has been interfering with the witnesses through bribes. We have had scenarios where the key witnesses have withdrawn from cases leaving us with no option other than closing the files without justice to the minors” she said.
