Three men accused of raping a high school student in Bomet County have been released on Sh100,000 bond each, with sureties of the same amount.
The suspects are Dennis Kiplangat Koech, Nichodemus Kiplangat Kurgat and a 14-year-old boy, who cannot be named because he is a minor. Bomet Senior Resident Magistrate Kipkirui Kibelion granted the release on Thursday after rejecting the prosecution’s claim that they were flight risks.
Mr Kibelion said the State had not produced evidence showing the accused would abscond, interfere with investigations or face threats if freed while the case proceeds. He also said there was no basis to deny them bail simply because they had not yet obtained national identity cards, noting that medical reports placed before the court showed two of them had only recently turned 18.
The magistrate ordered that the minor be held at Kericho Juvenile Remand Home.
Mr Rodgers Mukumia, a Bomet-based advocate, is representing the suspects. They have denied gang-rape charges and indecently touching the girl during the attack, which prosecutors say happened on November 5 at Kongotik Sub-location in Bomet East Sub-county.
The prosecution said police were still looking for two other suspects who remain at large.
The case will be mentioned on December 14 and heard on January 21, 2019.
Earlier, on November 12, Mr Mark Barasa asked the court to postpone the bond ruling because the victim wanted to address the magistrate. He also told the court that new evidence had emerged, including an electronic recording under analysis.
Independent investigations found that a youth secretly recorded audio as his village mates raped the girl. He later released it and has been helping police with investigations.
In the three-minute audio that went viral, the girl is heard pleading for mercy from men who appear to know her. It also emerged that one of the suspects is a boda boda rider who allegedly invited her to his house before calling the others.
