KENYA: 3men sentenced to death for stripping and abusing a woman

KENYA: 3men sentenced to death for stripping and abusing a woman

A Kenyan court has sentenced three men to death for stripping and abusing a woman during a wave of attacks by mobs in 2014 claiming that women were inappropriately dressed.

Court found the three men guilty of violently robbing, stripping and sexually assaulting a female passenger three years ago at a petrol station in Githurai 44

The Nairobi Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi sentenced to death; Edward Gitau, Nicholas Mwangi and Meshak Mwang who were working as a matatu driver, his conductor and a pump attendant at Millennium Petrol Station Githurai 44

The attack that happened in 2014 was captured on cell phone video and went viral on social media, It then prompted protests in Kenya called #MyDressMyChoice which in the end prompted the Director of Public Prosecutions to act

The judge described the offense as ‘most heinous’ and said the prosecution had proven that  the case against the accused persons beyond any reasonable doubt

While handing the sentences, Magistrate Andayi said it is important to respect all human beings “because we are equal but it is equally important to respect the dignity of a woman.”

He said that what started as a joke by spanking the woman “led them to commit a serious offense. This is what many uncultured men do out there,” he said.

 

In mitigation, the men pleaded for leniency considering that they had spent three years in custody pending trial.

She ordered the convicts to serve a jail term of 25 years each for the offense of sexually assaulting the woman

The death sentence in Kenya has since been commuted to life sentence, meaning that they will spend the rest of their lives behind bars.