Kitale High Court has meted out a 25-year jail term to a 30-year-old pastor who has been found on the wrong for defiling and murdering a pregnant form four student eight years ago.
The presiding judge stated that the prosecution had found proof beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Charles Nyanchwara Okere committed the crime in 2011 and based the judgment on the evidence provided before his bench.
The cleric was apprehended and charged for defiling and killing the five-month pregnant student but was later on released on bond.
He was accused of later searching for the expectant minor and killed her.
"I saw him (Charles) attack the girl on a roadside," one Mathew Kipkeu testified before the court.
His attempts to escape were thwarted when he was caught by passersby.
"He ran away when I went to help the girl but he was apprehended by another passer-by who chased after him," the witness added.
In his defense, the convict claimed that the student was his girlfriend and that her family was totally opposed to them being a couple.
“She told me that her parents had refused the marriage plans and that she was going to take her on life. I saw her pull a knife from her handbag and she stabbed herself,” he explained.
The father of the victim stated that he was satisfied with the court's ruling and for years the family had been looking forward to the day justice would be served.
“There is no amount of punishment that can bring back my daughter. I only wanted justice for her. My family has suffered a lot of pain,” he told the reporters present.
The convict still has the option of appealing the ruling in the next two weeks.
