This archive report was first published on 16 July 2020.
On July 14, 2020, Justice Roselyn Korir of the Garsen High Court in Tana River County granted an application by prosecutor Joseph Mwangi to have Omar Lali, the boyfriend of the late Tecra Muigai, undergo a mental test before taking plea for the murder charge.
According to the court, Omar will be attended to by a doctor at Garissa Provincial Hospital pending his appearance before the Garsen High Court.
Justice Korir ordered that Omar undergo a mental check-up to determine if he is fit to take plea on July 16, 2020.
“The accused is hereby ordered to be taken to a psychiatrist for mental check-up to find out if he is fit to take plea on Thursday,” said Justice Korir.
Omar Lali was arrested in May 2020 and freed on bond pending investigation. He was rearrested on July 13, 2020, at the Lamu Law Courts following an application by State lawyer Eddie Kadebe that the prosecution had gathered enough evidence linking him to Tecra’s murder.
However, Omar has denied the claims, insisting that the woman was his lover and he had no intention of killing her as they were planning to get married. He said Tecra had accepted to convert to Islam.
According to the police, Omar and Tecra lived together on various occasions since mid-2017 when they allegedly met.
