Victim or villian? Beauty queen's murder case sure to set precedent

Ruth Kamande, a prison beauty queen, has been on death row for seven years now after she was found guilty and convicted of murder.

When it emerged that she had stabbed her boyfriend Farid Mohammed 25 times, some who were keen on the chilling story oozed anger, while others expressed disbelief that she was acting in self-defence.

However, there were others who believed that her story of domestic abuse was not considered.

Amnesty International called for the commuting of the death sentence. The human rights group director Irungu Houghton observed, after Kamande was slapped with the death sentence, that the mode of punishment was retrogressive and cruel.

"We are concerned that Kenya continues to use this cruel, inhumane, and outdated mode of punishment. This sentence is a blow to Kenya's progressive record in commuting death sentences to terms of imprisonment," Mr Irungu said.

Women Members of Parliament also joined in calling for the removal of the death sentence from the law books, noting that Kamande had lost her life through punishment, instead of rehabilitation.

Ill-motive

Two courts; the High Court and the Court of Appeal ruled that she had an ill motive.

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At the High Court, Justice Jessit Lesiit (now a Court of Appeal Judge) said that she meted the harsh punishment as a lesson to others that it is better to leave when love hits the rocks.

"I want young people to know that it is not cool to kill your boyfriend or girlfriend; instead it is cool to walk away from a relationship when it breaks down," said Judge Lesiit.

Aggrieved, Kamande moved to the Court of Appeal arguing that although the State had claimed that she had previously seen some letters her boyfriend had written to another woman, she had reconciled with him to the extent that she would go cook for him.

Kamande said that she stabbed Mohammed in self-defence, adding that there was proof there was a struggle between them because she also had injuries.

But Court of Appeal judges Hannah Okwengu, Mohamed Warsame, and Jamilla Mohammed declined to tilt the scales of justice in her favour.

Kamande's story and quest to tell her side of the story is, however, not over yet.

The Court of Appeal has certified her case to be of public importance and escalated it to the Supreme Court.

Kamande will not be the poster girl of a landmark battle on whether women who are victims of domestic violence deserve a different look from other villains.

Already, the High Court has set the benchmark with a one-day jail sentence for Trufena Ndonga Aswani two years ago. Justice Roselyn Aburili said that Trufena endured a relationship in which love had gone 'cold and sour'.

The court described Trufena's husband as an irresponsible, violent, and brutal human being who did not treat the woman with any dignity or respect.

In the case, Jared Obochi had returned home late on December 14 after drinking, as was his norm, and was served with dinner. After eating, he picked a quarrel with Trufena. Obochi demanded to be given a title deed his father had given Trufena to protect the family from ending up in the cold. The father feared that Obochi would sell the land due to his drinking habit.

When she refused, her husband grabbed a machete but before he could slash her, Trufena got hold of it and cut her husband several times, killing him. She then dragged the body and concealed it under grass in a neighbour's farm, some 200 metres away from their home.

Escape route

"Run for your lives, both women and men who are abused. There is no love that can never be lost. Yet love should never be lost by killing one another. Find an escape route to safety. Do not condone violence being meted on you," said Justice Aburili.

Meanwhile, in Kamande's case, Court of Appeal judges Asike Makhandia, Agnes Murgor and Sankale Ole Kantai were unanimous that battered women syndrome is still fresh in the country.

However, in agreement with Kamande's lawyers Githu Muigai and Wambui Muigai, they noted that Kenya does not have a solid direction of dealing with such cases.

Prof Muigai argued that self-control as theorised and endorsed in law ideally proceeds from the old traditional stereotypical understanding of human psychology that anger is instantaneous from a significant event that precipitates loss of self-control for the person and as such the offence of murder is placed distinctly from past abuse.

The former Attorney General submitted that there had been increased cases of domestic violence.

He was of the view that the appeal at the Supreme Court will address the rights of victims of domestic violence, the proper and applicable legal principles in a self-defence plea, and the appropriate test for provocation raised in a battered women syndrome defence

The Director of Public Prosecution was in agreement that Kamande's case should be escalated to Kenya's highest court for a determination of whether the lower courts ought to have automatically lowered the finding to manslaughter when she raised self-defense.

"We have looked at the issues that have been raised by the applicant and note that the issue surrounding battered women syndrome is ideally raw in the country and has not had so many decisions on the same. We feel the same be given a window for interrogation by the Supreme Court.

Kamande was crowned winner of the Lang'ata Women Prison beauty pageant in 2016.

Spirited fight

She has put up a spirited fight for her freedom, arguing that her boyfriend had raped her knowing that he was HIV positive and that he had attempted to kill her.

According to Kamande, she had found Mohammed with a yellow card from the Aids control programme showing that he was being treated for the disease.

The court heard that the night before the killing, Mohammed had forced her to have sex with him without protection. After confronting him, she testified, Mohammed attempted to kill her and she stabbed him in the ensuing scuffle.

"Mohammed told me that he would rather kill me and himself than have his status exposed because I realised he was HIV positive. I stabbed him severally using a kitchen knife, which fell on my chest from his hands after I overpowered him after putting my two thumbs in his eyes to save my life," said Kamande.

"Your honour, it pained me to know that the person who l loved and trusted so much was out to ruin my life by infecting me with HIV."

But Justice Lesiit ruled that the rape allegation was an afterthought.

Kamande, in her argument, also admitted that she had fought with Mohammed over two love letters she found in his bedside locker.

She told the court that after the stabbing, she tried to save his life but was unsuccessful.