Mombasa woman to serve 10 years for sexual assault on girl at school

MOMBASA: A woman convicted of sexually assaulting a five-year-old girl in Mombasa has finally been sentenced to 10 years in jail.

Justice has come five years late for the victim who was five years old when she was brutally defiled by a woman who was entrusted to take care of her at a Primary School in Mombasa's Likoni estate. The attack happened on March 18, 2011.

The trial dragged on for five years due to transfer of magistrates who were handling the case that began when the minor was in nursery school.

Despite the delay, justice was finally served when Regina Muthengi, the attacker, was handed her sentence at a Mombasa Court.

According to a doctor's report, the suspect attacked the victim with a "blunt object" which was found to be her finger.

The evidence showed that Muthengi, a caretaker at the school at that time, took advantage of the girl's innocence and molested her.

The name of  the school and victim's mother cannot be  disclosed to protect the child's identity.

Muthengi's trial under the Sexual Offenses Act began in 2011 and has dragged on slowly as evidence was being pieced together.

During the trial period, relatives of the victims dutifully came to court to hear the proceedings.

And yesterday they were all in shock when the Mombasa Chief Magistrate Susan Shitubi pronounced the sentence.

"Though I may sympathise with your situation my hands are tied under the Sexual Offenses Act. The law provides a minimum sentence for the offence to be 10 years. I have no alternative but to jail you for 10 years as proscribed by the law," said Shitubi who noted that the prosecution prove that the guilt was 'beyond any reasonable doubt'.

Josphat Muthengi, the suspect's husband said they would appeal.