Be cautious while reporting rape cases, DCI

The directorate of criminal investigations has urged members of the public to take caution while reporting rape cases.

The directorate on Friday said rape is a serious offence under the sexual offenses act that attracts a heavy penalty of up-to life imprisonment.

The George Kinoti led department said while victims of any form of sexual abuse are encouraged to make their reports for immediate action, the reports should not however be false or aimed at getting back against those accused.

The caution follows an incident where a woman only identified as Mercy falsely accused her area chief of raping her, after her husband discovered that the two have been having a sexual affair.

The DCI said in a case lodged at Londiani police station on Tuesday afternoon, the woman who hails from Kimasian location in the company of her husband alleged that the area chief had stormed her homestead earlier in the day and ordered her out of the house.

She further alleged that when she obliged, the chief then forced her into a nearby maize plantation where he raped her repeatedly.

The DCI said Londiani based sleuths launched immediate investigations into the allegations against the local administrator.

“The sleuths discovered that Mercy and the Chief had been in a relationship and for a period of time, they had been constant communication,” the DCI said.

According to them, on the day the chief is alleged to have raped Mercy, the two were in constant communication and had agreed to meet at their usual place in a maize plantation.

The DCI said further investigations revealed that the same Tuesday, the chief sent Mercy a message that read, “nimekuwekea kitu tupatane I give you....”. This message was to confirm an Mpesa transaction of Sh327 that the chief had transacted in favour of the woman.

The sleuths said Mercy’s husband stumbled on these secret messages and others dating as far much back as August and discovered that his wife had been secretly having an affair with the chief in a nearby maize plantation.

These the DCI said provided perfect cover for their illicit activities.

“In order to get back at the chief, Mercy was compelled to file a trumped-up report against him, in a case that has attracted a lot of interest in Cheptagulgei village,” the DCI said.

However, after detectives conducting their detailed analysis and investigations including a visit to the alleged scene of the incident, they discovered that Mercy’s claims were inconsistent and not supported by facts at the scene.

“The investigators also retrieved Mpesa transactions detailing how the woman had been receiving money from the chief after every illicit encounter they had since July. These among other revelations in the possession of our detectives, including how the woman’s husband lured the Chief through text messages to meet with his wife seriously casted doubt on the woman’s allegations that the Chief had indeed brutally dragged her into the maize plantation and forced himself on her,” said the DCI.

The department said, “This is to advise members of the public that rape is a serious offence under the sexual offenses act, that attracts a heavy penalty of up-to life in prison. While we encourage victims of any form of sexual abuse to make their reports for our immediate action, we equally caution the public against making false allegations against any individual to get back at them.”