A -38- year -old man accused of defiling a four old girl has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a Kabarnet court.
Rafael Kiplagat Ngetich who appeared before Chief Magistrate (CM) Judith Wanjala on Thursday is said to have committed the heinous offence on August 23, 2020 at around 1pm at Tabariny location in Baringo Central Sub County.
Ngetich had been charged with two counts of defilement contrary to section 8(1) as read with section 8(2) of the Sexual Offences Act No. 3 of 2006 and committing indecent act with a girl contrary to section 11 of the Sexual Offences Act of 2006 an offence he denied to the last minute.
He told the court that he did not recognise the victim and was just grazing cattle near the neighbourhood that day.
One of the siblings who witnessed the father of two committing the heinous act told the court that their mother had left for church, while they remained at home until they went to collect some firewood at a nearby thicket.
He said they walked a short distance before the culprit passed by and told them to return back home as he remained with their little sister.
The victim who was the fourth witness narrated painfully to the court in the chamber, where she said the offender at some point even threatened her siblings who wanted to rescue her.
The mother of the complainant said that she returned back at around 3 pm and was met with the sad news of her daughter being defiled by a well-known person.
“I received a report from one of my four children that one of them had been defiled by one Kiplagat and upon noticing she is in pain I immediately took her to Tenges Health Centre where she was examined by a doctor,” she said.
The mother stated that the child was treated and referred to Baringo County referral hospital for specialised treatment before reporting the matter to the police.
The doctor who presented a medical report to court confirmed that the girl was indeed defiled.
Wanjala in her ruling said that by the fact that the victim was a child of a very tender age, the culprit according to sexual offence act will face a stiff penalty.
The Chief Magistrate went ahead to sentence the accused to life imprisonment, but gave him 14 days right of appeal.
