Life sentence for father who repeatedly defiled daughter

AKK was held in a place of honour by her daughter LWK but once he fell out with his wife and remained with LWK and her two siblings, he abused his trust, defiling her multiple times, stealing her innocence.

Now, he is serving a life sentence, and his quest for freedom has been denied in two instances; at the High Court and the Court of Appeal.

LWK was 10 years old in 2015 when her world changed forever.

At the time of the repeated offence, LWK’s mother had been married to the appellant since 2003, but was estranged after domestic disputes. When she exited her matrimonial home, she left behind LWK and her two siblings living with AKK.

According to testimony in court, the girl shared a bedroom with her brother, MK.

One night, AKK went into the children’s room and carried L.W.K. to his bed, removed her clothes and proceeded to defile her before returning her to their room. During the defilement, L.W.K. felt pain, but he covered her mouth.

LWK testified that MK never knew of the incident as he was young and asleep. The defilement was repeated more than once.

In another case, the testimony shows, there was a day when her father sent her for milk at about 7 pm and on her way back, she met him and he took her into a thicket .

Yet another day, he again sent LWK for milk, and she refused to go, he beat her with a stick on her hands and feet.

She ran to her mother's shop which was nearby for refuge and sought to stay with her and she then sent her to her maternal grandmother.

After about seven days, the mother went for LWK after she complained of abdominal pains.

That night, when they went to sleep, LWK started sleep-talking, urging someone to stop struggling with her and cease touching her dress.

When interrogated by the mother, she said she had immense stomach pain. She was taken to Ndaragwa Health Centre where they were referred to Nyahururu District Hospital, here, it was discovered that she had been repeatedly defiled and was suffering from an infection.

Put on his defence at the magistrate’s court where he was first arraigned, the father claimed that bad blood between him and his estranged wife was the reason he was being framed.

He also claimed the evidence was not coherent and that his son was not called to testify. The magistrate convicted him and gave him life sentence.

His appeal at the High Court in 2018, and the Court of Appeal also threw out his second appeal on June 20, 2025.

“The appellant has not persuaded us that the conclusion by the two courts was erroneous and not supported by evidence. Consequently, we uphold the concurrent findings of the two courts and find that the appellant’s defence was properly rejected. His conviction is sound and his first appeal against conviction was properly dismissed,” the appeal judges said.