Pupil narrates rape ordeal with Belgian man

By Willis Oketch

MOMBASA, KENYA: A 13-year-old girl has told a Mombasa court that a Belgian national charged with defiling her paid her mother regularly, to abet her sexual abuse.

She said her mother (who cannot be named) benefited financially whenever she was defiled and forced her to sleep with the man.

The girl told Mombasa Senior Resident Magistrate Timothy ole Tanchu in Shanzu yesterday that the suspect used to carry her to his bed from the kitchen after she had washed utensils.

She was testifying in a case in which Allan Robert Perniaux has denied that on diverse dates between 2010 and July 14 this year at Serena area in Kisauni he defiled the girl.

Perniaux, represented by lawyer Vincent Omolo, has also denied that on diverse dates in 2010 and July 14 this year he indecently assaulted the girl.

The pupil told the court that she had sex with the foreigner whenever she went to his house in Mtwapa to help him wash his utensils and clean the floor.

Her mother has been in police custody since July this year and is facing the charge of aiding defilement of her daughter for financial gain.

Forced her

The mother has been unable to raise the Sh500,000 bond with one surety imposed after her arrest in July but the Belgian raised a similar amount and is out of jail.

“I cannot?remember the exact dates when I started going there but whenever I went there on Saturday I used to wash utensils and after finishing he would start touching my breasts and then carry me to his bedroom,” she said.

She added that the Belgian gave her money to take to her mother.

She also said her mother would often force her to go the foreigner’s house and ignored her reports of sexual abuse.

An officer with the Reproductive Centre For Health Kenya Rose Gwada Sila told the court that she learnt about the girl’s predicament from Shimo La Tewa Primary School chairman George Kavu and later alerted the police after speaking to the victim.