This archive report was first published on 14 October 2019.
On October 14, 2019, the High Court in Kericho made a landmark ruling, quashing a life sentence and setting free Bernard Kipkurui Tum, a man accused of sodomizing a maize thief as punishment.
The court found numerous gaps and contradictions in the evidence presented against Tum, who had been arraigned in May 2012 and pleaded not guilty to committing an unnatural act.
According to the charge, Tum was accused of having carnal knowledge of the complainant against the order of nature on April 26, 2012, in Kericho District within the Rift Valley Province.
However, during the trial, the charge was substituted with that of defilement, and Tum maintained his innocence, shifting the burden to the state to prove the case against him.
The state presented five witnesses, but the judge pointed out glaring contradictions in their statements, ultimately setting aside the conviction and sentencing altogether.
As the judge ruled, 'The fact that the clinical officer said that he found redness in the anus of the complainant several days later did not prove sexual penetration. Such reddening could even have been caused by hard stool.'
