A 15-year-old girl shocked a Kakamega court when she confessed that she deliberately took a concoction prepared by her grandmother to procure an abortion.
Her grandmother, JI, wanted her to get rid of her unborn baby because it was as a result of incest, which is against the Luhya culture.
JW was charged with defiling LA, a 15-year-old girl in November, 2020 in Kakamega County.
The minor identified as LA by court, narrated a sad tale of her miserable life that she said led her to kill the unborn child and her uncle charged with defilement.
LA told Senior Resident Magistrate Viena Amboko that the accused was her uncle and recalled vividly what transpired in November 2020.
“I went to JW’s house, near our home. He was alone, he locked me in his house and forced me to have sex with him,” said the minor.
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She told the trial magistrate that after a while, she discovered that she was pregnant and since she lived with her grandmother, she also learnt about it.
“I missed my monthly periods only to discover that I was pregnant. My grandmother too learnt about it and told my mother. I was questioned on who was responsible for my pregnancy and mentioned uncle JW,” she said.
The minor, who was a Form One student by then while the accused was a Form Three student, said that her grandmother called her uncle’s father and they agreed that she could not keep the pregnancy since they were related.
“They said that we cannot have a child together and stated that I should terminate the pregnancy,” said LA. She told the trial magistrate that it was then that her grandmother gave her the concoction.
“I was given the concoction and told to take it during the day. I saw the fetus but didn’t know where they took it.
She said that the following morning, the area assistant chief came to check on her after the fetus had been discovered at a neighbor’s compound.
“It was then that I was taken by police to hospital for examination and later my uncle was arrested,” she said.
Another witness, MA, testified that she was walking to the shop when she heard people saying that a fetus had been found at Mama Julieta’s toilet.
She said that they later learnt that JI had run away.
The investigating officer also testified that the grandmother fled to an unknown destination and efforts to trace her were in vain.