Shopkeeper, hawker sentenced to 20 years for defiling minors

A Kapsabet court has sentenced a shopkeeper and a hawker in Nandi County to 20 years for defiling two underage girls on separate incidences.

Gideon Kiprotich, 36, who is also a shopkeeper at Kombe Village in Nandi County reportedly defiled a minor in his shop before handing her Sh50 note as compensation, while 38-year-old Daniel Kipkoech, a hawker, defiled an 11-year-old girl at Kiptoroi Village in May 2015.

In her testimony, the court heard that the victim had been sent to buy sugar from a nearby shop but on the way to the shop, Kipkoech dragged her to a bush and defiled her several times, leaving her with serious injuries.

Kipkoech however told the court that his relatives conspired with some residents to frame him, insisting that he was an innocent family man who respects children.

On his part, Kiprotich appealed to the court to consider him as a first offender since he has a young family and begged for leniency.

Senior resident Magistrate Maureen Cherono Kesse however ruled that the two middle-aged men were a danger to society and that they should not be left to roam freely.

“Considering the evidence provided by the witnesses and reviewing the prosecution exhibit, the court proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused defiled the minors contrary to Section 42 of the Sexual Offences Act”