50-Year-Old Kenyan Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for Marrying a 9-Year-Old Girl

A 50-year-old man has been sentenced to life imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to defiling and marrying a nine-year-old girl.

Saigulu Ololosereka admitted to marrying the minor in 2019 at Entasekera area in Narok South Sub County.

Appearing before Narok Senior Resident Magistrate Phyllis Shinyanda, the accused said he was given the girl for marriage by her father Senteu Ole Mareu.

The court heard that the marriage was unearthed after the minor, now 12 years old, developed complications during giving birth and had to be rushed to Narok County Referral Hospital.

The girl, who was in the company of her husband, then underwent a cesarean section but experienced a still birth. An age assessment determined that she was only 12 years old.

The court granted a request by Narok children’s officer to commit the girl, who is yet to be discharged from the hospital, to Taraja Children’s home in Machakos county.

While issuing the sentence on Wednesday, magistrate Shinyanda said the convict was warned of the gravity of the offense after pleading guilty to the charges, but he maintained that he married the girl because the parents had given her to him for marriage.

She noted that the act had a long-term physiological and physical impact on the victim, who was subjected to female genital mutilation before marrying and later had a caesarian section when delivering a baby.

She observed that despite being warned of the gravity of the offense, the accused showed no remorse and insisted that the young girl was his wife.

The magistrate sentenced Ololosereka to life in prison for the first count of defilement and three years for the second count of early marriage.

He has 14 days to appeal the sentence.