Police have taken action against a woman in a video that has gone viral on different social media platforms of her assaulting a househelp over clothes hanging line.
The woman allegedly attacked a neighbour's househelp for hanging wet clothes on her balcony in Mamboleo Estate, Kisumu County.
The video made rounds on social media catching the attention of law enforcement officers who arrested her. She was later charged with causing bodily harm.
The woman was presented before Winam Law Courts Resident Magistrate, Chrispine Oruo. She pleaded not guilty to causing bodily harm.
The Magistrate heard that the incident happened on Sunday, October 24, in the Mamboleo area, where the woman assaulted the househelp leaving her bruised in some body parts.
But, after the case was reported, it emerged that the accused woman had in the recent past served as the head of Gender Based Violence at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH).
In the video, she is seen attacking the househelp with a machete several times. The ordeal attracted outrage on social media platforms with people calling for action to be taken.
The accused woman was, however, released on a cash bail of Ksh10,000 with an alternative bond of Ksh30,000. The matter has been scheduled to be heard on March 2, 2022.
The cases of domestic violence have been on the rise in the country with stakeholders calling on the government to implement measures to curb the vice.
In the case of the househelps, they are also entitled to rights as enshrined in the labour laws.
Kenya passed the Domestic Workers’ Law in June 2011 following the decision of the Ministry of Labour to adopt the International Labour Organisation Convention on Domestic Workers, who include cleaners, cooks, gardeners, nannies and housekeepers.
The ILO Convention 2011 No.189 declares that domestic workers are entitled to the same basic labour rights as other workers. In this spirit Kenya passed the law supposedly to improve wages and working conditions for Kenya’s domestic workforce, thereby affording domestic workers greater job security and wages to support their families.
These laws have continued to protect them against abusive bosses.
