Kenyan Man Handed Life Sentence After Appealing 45-Year Prison Term in Rape Case

The High Court in Kitui has slapped a man with a life sentence after unsuccessfully appealing a 45-year prison term.

Jacob Mutunga was jailed for 45 years by a magistrate court in January 2020 after he was found guilty of defiling a minor.

He was accused of sexually assaulting a neighbor’s 10-year-old daughter in Thua, Kitui County on September 9th, 2018.

Mutunga was dissatisfied with the judgment and filed an appeal at the High Court, arguing that the lower court erred in convicting him. 

He submitted that the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he committed the offense of defilement.

But in a ruling last week, High Court Judge Robert Limo increased Mutunga’s sentence to life citing the Sexual Offences Act, which provides for only one sentence—life imprisonment.

Section 8 (2) of the Act says that; a person who commits an offense of defilement with a child aged 11 years or less shall upon conviction be sentenced to life imprisonment.

“This court finds that the prosecution’s case against the appellant was simply overwhelming. The trial evaluated the evidence well and reached the correct conclusion,” Justice Limo ruled, adding that Mutunga’s appeal lacked merit.

The court further cited the trauma he caused to the minor and the fact that he infected her with a Sexually Transmitted Disease.