Vihiga man sentenced to 20 years in jail for gang rape

At around midnight on September 1, 2007, Jackson Otwoma, 78, his wife, Anna Asachi, and their grandchildren — Harrison Odera and Josephine (not her real name) — were sleeping in their house in Muchela village, Vihiga County.

The family was woken up when their house was broken into by a gang of six men armed with torches, machetes, heavy metals, and rungus (clubs).

On hearing the commotion, Odera and his sister Josephine left their respective bedrooms and rushed to their grandparents’ bedroom for safety.

The gang leader, Gideon Liboywa, and other members of the gang entered the house and headed straight to Otwoma and his wife’s bedroom. The gang beat up Otwoma, seriously injuring him as they demanded money. They ransacked the house, looking for money and other items.

According to both Asachi and Odero, the assailants pulled Josephine from the bedroom into the bathroom. Asachi followed them to the bathroom but was assaulted and told to go away. Odero also followed the gang to the bathroom where the assailants were with his sister. He witnessed the gang start rape his sister, but they chased him away.
Odero, however, could not identify any of the attackers because they assaulted him and flashed torches on his face.

According to Josephine’s testimony, one of the gang members started pulling her towards the bathroom. She tried to resist and as her grandmother attempted to pull her away, the cap of one of the gang members who were dragging fell off.
Once he was unmasked, Josephine’s grandmother recognised him as their neighbour, Liboywa.

Liboywa forced Josephine into the bathroom and the others followed. They tore off her underpants, pushed her against the wall and raped her in turns for about one hour. They also urinated on her. She was, however, unable to tell who raped her first.

Josephine positively identified Liboywa as her attacker as he kept his torch on while he was tearing off her under garments.

Liboywa was later charged alongside five other suspects. But he was the only one convicted. He was sentenced by the trial court to a prison term of 20 years for the offence of gang-rape.
Dissatisfied with the decision of the court, Liboywa appealed the ruling, and on July 29, 2016, Kisumu Court of

Appeal judges David Maranga, Daniel Musinga, and Stephen Kairu dismissed his appeal.
The appellate court justices noted that there was sufficient evidence to uphold the conviction and sentence of Liboywa for his actions.