Kibera High Court on Tuesday handed a 30-year jail term to a man found guilty of murdering his ex-wife.
The convict was slapped with the sentence after the prosecuting team led by counsel Peris Maina proved to the court beyond reasonable doubt that he murdered his 24-year-old ex-wife back in 2018.
Issuing the verdict, Judge Diana Mochache noted that the suspect did not show any remorse and had constantly denied the murder despite evidence proving otherwise.
The judge ruled the convict defence that the deceased stabbed herself was not valid.
In the case, the prosecution had lined up five witnesses to testify. Eyewitnesses narrated the events leading to the crime.
One of the eyewitnesses told the Court that after the convicted got wind of his ex-lover’s (deceased) plan to wed her new boyfriend, he promptly demanded the gifts he had bought her be returned.
The witness recounted that a quarrel ensued when her ex-lover showed indifference and hesitance in complying with the convict’s demands.
The heated altercation led the convict to grab a kitchen knife which he used to stab her ex-wife.
Following the incident, the convict vanished into the thicket but was immediately arrested by a crowd that had responded to screams.
The prosecution convinced the Court that the deceased and his ex-lover had well-documented differences which were reported before.
As part of the case hearings, the family of the deceased told the Court how the loss of their kin was a big blow. They mourned the deceased as not only an integral part of them but also charming, respectful, and someone who had a great future.
The ruling comes as the pressure has been mounting for the government to curb gender-based violence (GBV). Human rights lobby groups urged President William Ruto to consider declaring femicide a national crisis following the gruesome murder of several women in October 2024.
According to the National Police Service (NPS), 97 women were murdered in femicide cases between August and October this year.
