Julius Wambua, a man who was jailed eight years ago for life over allegedly defiling his own daughter has been freed.
Wambua's story came to the public eye after his daughter recanted her evidence in the rape case on national television. Dorcas Wambua stated that she was coached by her mother to accuse the father of raping her.
Justice George Odunga quashed the ruling of the Kithimani magistrate Court and the subsequent proceedings at the High court. The judge ordered for a retrial if the Director of Public Prosecutions finds it viable considering the amount of public interest the case has generated.
Odunga released Wambua on a cash bail of 30,000 shillings and an alternative bond of 200,000 shillings with a surety of a similar amount pending retrial. “The petitioner’s appeal has been considered and determined that he was accused by someone who was coached and wasn’t her own words, therefore justice must be rendered. Pw2 and Pw3 were coerced and threatened by their mother and police so as to implicate the accused over incest and coached on what to say in court. Justice didn’t happen at the time of trial since Pw2 was a minor and was under coercion by the mother” stated Odunga.
Principal magistrate A.W. Mwangi had in January 2012 sentenced Wambua to life in jail after finding him guilty of defilement.