In January 2020, a Chief Magistrate’s court handed Mutunga a 45-year jail term for defiling a 10-year-old girl on September 9, 2018, in Thua, Kitui County. Mutunga was aggrieved by the court’s decision and decided to file an appeal at the High court.
At the High court, Justice Robert Limo ruled that the sentence should be enhanced, noting that the Sexual Offences Act only provides for life imprisonment for this type of offence.
According to Section 8 (2) of the Act, a person who commits an offence of defilement with a child aged eleven years or less shall upon conviction be sentenced to life imprisonment.
Justice Limo ruled that the court finds that the prosecution’s case against the appellant was simply overwhelming. The trial court evaluated the evidence well and reached the correct conclusion.
The court said the man deserves the life sentence given that he caused the trauma to the minor and the fact that in the process of defilement, he infected her with a Sexually Transmitted Disease.
In the lower court, the prosecution relied on the evidence of the minor, medical records produced in court and the testimony by the girl’s mother.