Woman jailed 10 years for defiling her five-year-old son

By VINCENT MABATUK

Nakuru, Kenya: A Nakuru court has sentenced a woman to 10 years in jail after she admitted to having sex with her five-year-old son.

The prosecution proved to court that the woman, 46, and a mother of three children aged 24, 22 and five, had sex with her last-born son on different occasions for a period of 10 months.

A charge sheet indicated that the accused, who is also a grandmother, on diverse dates between January and October 2013 at Heshima area in Nakuru North committed incest with the nursery school child.

She was also found guilty of a second offence of touching his private parts. The minor, through the assistance of a neighbour, informed the police of how his mother abused him.

The court was told that the boy had severe pain in his groin before he informed a neighbour, who took him to Bahati District Hospital for examination and treatment. The boy was later issued with a P3 form that led to the arrest of the woman.

The minor told investigators he was staying alone with his mother and they shared a bed. The woman’s husband died in 1998 leaving her with two children. She later got married and gave birth to the boy.

Mentally sound

According to reports produced before Resident Magistrate Rita Amwayi, the minor attended school irregularly as the mother detained him at home. The boy is now at a children’s home.

Dr Joseph Njau, a psychiatrist based at Rift Valley Provincial General Hospital who examined the accused, ruled that she was mentally sound.

“The accused is of sound mental health and can stand trial,” said the doctor in his report. When she was given opportunity to address the court, the accused asked the magistrate to be lenient in her sentence. She said she had learnt a lesson and would not repeat the mistake.