By Evelyn Kwamboka
Does stepping on your relative’s toe call for a protracted legal battle and possibly hefty damages?
Well, a woman who accused two relatives of stepping on her foot and wounding her toe has lost a case she brought to court.
Nairobi’s Kibera Chief Magistrate Uniter Kidula, yesterday set the accused free and asked the family to seek a mediator to resolve their differences.
"I must say I was saddened by the way so much animosity was expressed between close family members, who instead of trying to sort out their differences, are misusing courts to punish each other," she ruled.
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British nationals Mr Shabbir Ali Jusab and Mr Yasin Jusab had been charged with two offences.
They were charged with jointly wounding Ms Zaibuni Osman Gamrai with intent to disfigure her on April 28 at MP Shah Hospital in Nairobi.
Second count
In the second count, they were charged with attempted murder. The case says on the same day, they attempted to murder Mr Riaz Osman Gamrai at the hospital.
The accused and complainants had gone to the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit to see a patient.
It was alleged the two brothers attacked Riaz and knocked him to the ground.
Riaz’s mother came to her son’s rescue and in the process, her toe was stepped on, causing her to lose a toenail. The two were then arrested and charged with the two offences.
Ms Gamrai had testified in court that one of the accused stepped on her right toe.
"I did not see the person who stepped on my toe. The family was all there, we were many of us," she told the court.
The court ruled it could have been her son as he struggled to separate those fighting at the scene.
The court also dismissed evidence adduced by the prosecution that the two allegedly attempted to kill Riaz by strangling him.
The trial magistrate said the prosecution failed to prove the two brothers intended to murder him.
"If the shirt was the instrument of strangulation and it was around his neck, why is it that it left no marks on the left side of the neck?" she asked.
