Eldoret man found guilty of gang rape jailed 12 years

Benson Simiyu was found guilty by Senior Principal Magistrate Kesse Cheronoh in the first count of gang rape contrary to section 10 of the Sexual Offences Act No 3 and also the second count of committing an indecent act with an adult contrary to section (A} of the sexual offences Act No 3 of 2006.

In her judgment, Cheronoh highlighted that the prosecution had provided sufficient evidence during the trial against the convict to prove its case.

The charge against the convict stated that on January 15, 2025, in the Lower Colombo area in Turbo Sub-County, Uasin Gishu County, he, alongside another person who is still at large internationally, unlawfully raped the woman code-named S.M.

He pleaded not guilty to the offences.

According to court documents, the accused person and his accomplice, who is yet to be arrested by the police, waylaid and accosted the victim on the material day at 9 pm while on her way to the shop to buy food items for dinner.

The court heard that the two men attacked her by hitting her head with a metal rod, and she immediately fell to the ground while bleeding profusely.

In her evidence-in-chief during the hearing, the victim told the court that one of her attackers took her mobile phone while the other one took Kshs. 1,600, which was in her pocket.

They are said to have sexually assaulted her in turns after she became unconscious on the ground from the fatal injuries she sustained from the vicious attack.

She told the court that after the rape ordeal, the accused persons abandoned her in the secluded field, leaving her for dead.

In mitigation, the accused person pleaded with the court to forgive him, saying that it was his first time being linked to the criminal offence.

While delivering her judgement, the Magistrate noted that she had considered the offence the accused person is charged with and also what he had stated in his mitigation.