Court sentences man to life imprisonment for defiling and impregnating sister

 A man has been sentenced to life imprisonment after he was found guilty of repeatedly defiling and impregnating his 16-year-old sister in a case that the High Court described as a gross betrayal of trust.

The court heard that Moses Mogere repeatedly sneaked into a bedroom his younger sister shared with his daughter and sexually abused her over several months. When the teenager became pregnant, Mogere allegedly gave his wife Sh3,000 to procure an abortion.

The attempted abortion, carried out at a local chemist, was unsuccessful, and the girl later gave birth. She subsequently reported the abuse to the area chief and later to Nyamarambe Police Station in Kisii County.

Kisii High Court Judge Anne Okutoyi upheld the life sentence imposed by Etago Principal Magistrate Vincent Nyaga after finding that the evidence overwhelmingly proved the offence of incest.

The victim, identified as DMN, testified that her brother had repeatedly had unprotected sex with her from early 2023 until March 2024.

She told the court that the abuse began one night when Mogere's wife had travelled to attend a funeral and eventually became routine. DMN had been living with her brother after being mistreated and chased away by other relatives.

In his defence, Mogere denied the allegations and accused his younger sister of fabricating the claims because he had reprimanded her over what he described as indiscipline.

He alleged that she had multiple sexual relationships with different boys and had at one point nearly been married off to one of them.

"I had beaten her because of her behaviour, and that is why she is fixing me. She was also assaulted by some of her boyfriends after they discovered she was cheating on them. The charges are not true," Mogere told the court.

In mitigation, he pleaded for leniency and asked the court to consider imposing a non-custodial sentence.

Justice Okutoyi declined the request, describing the offence as particularly grave because the victim was an orphan who had sought refuge and protection in her brother's home.

"This court has considered the aggravating circumstances in this case involving an orphaned minor whose own brother, rather than protecting her, exploited the trust placed in him to sexually violate her," the judge said.

She observed that incest ranks among the most reprehensible forms of sexual violence because it violates not only the bodily integrity of the victim but also the trust and security that should exist within a family.

"The psychological, emotional and social scars suffered by victims of incest are profound and long-lasting. The abuse of a close familial relationship constitutes a serious breach of trust that significantly aggravates the offence," Justice Okutoyi said.

She added that mitigation could not outweigh the seriousness of the crime, the devastating impact on the child victim, the abuse of the sibling relationship, and the public interest in protecting children from sexual exploitation within their own homes.