This archive report was first published on 5 July 2021.
On July 5, 2021, a 71-year-old man in Muhoroni was found guilty of incest after impregnating his 15-year-old daughter.
The court, presided over by Principal Magistrate Everlene Enzere, found the man guilty of defiling his younger daughter but dismissed the charge involving his 17-year-old daughter.
According to the prosecution, the man had threatened his younger daughter with a knife before defiling her. The infant sired by the man died at birth, and a paternity test confirmed that he was the father.
The victim, identified by initials JO, recounted how her father forced her to remove her clothes and started sexually assaulting her deep in the night.
She testified that she had visited her father to pick essential foodstuffs at Kipsamwe, but he defiled her instead. She also reported the matter to a village elder, who turned her away and referred her to the police.
Police took action and arrested the suspect when the younger daughter turned out to be pregnant. Witnesses who testified in the case pointed an accusing finger at the elderly man.
In his defense, the man denied the accusations and claimed that he had been framed. However, the court found him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Magistrate Enzere ruled that the count involving his youngest daughter was proved, and the medical examination confirmed that the man had impregnated his younger daughter.
“The accused is found guilty of the offense of incest contrary to Section 20 (1) of the Sexual Offenses Act and is convicted,” said Enzere.
A guardian who now lives with the child lauded the judgment as a major breakthrough in the quest to find justice for her.
