Former Embu North DCIO Jervasio Mwaniki has been convicted to thirty years in prison over raping a suspect inside his office.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) in a statement on Tuesday, December 19 said Mwaniki was sentenced to twenty years in jail on two counts of rape and a further 10 years imprisonment on a count of abuse of position of authority.
This comes after the ODPP through Daniel Karuri and Scolastica Nyika filed an appeal after the former detective was acquitted on all counts by the trial court.
The former detective had been accused of raping a 45-year-old woman, who was under his custody at the police station, as well as abusing his position of authority as a law enforcement officer.
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The High Court, while setting aside the judgment of the Trial Court, agreed that the prosecution had proven all counts overwhelmingly and that the Trial Court had erred in descending into the arena of litigation and in considering extraneous factors while acquitting the Respondent.
“The learned magistrate chose to ignore the compelling evidence in the form of DNA which linked the respondent to the offence beyond reasonable doubt, thereby by doing the complainant a great injustice by acquitting the respondent,” Justice Lucy Njuguna stated.
The victim who was working as a fish vendor was arrested for allegedly stealing Sh 200,000 and was detained when the former DCIO took her out of the cell and defiled her before she was released on a cash bail.
The woman reported the matter to a police officer at Manyatta police station who then took her to the station commander and narrated the ordeal in presence of Mwaniki.
The former DCIO apologized to the victim and offered to pay for her treatment on the condition she lie that she was assaulted by a stranger.
The victim was taken to Embu Level 5 hospital for treatment before recording a statement.
Her clothes were recovered later, as well as the tissue paper were later recovered from Mwaniki’s office and were taken to testing and matched the former DCI officer’s DNA.
Mwaniki was acquitted in March by Magistrate Henry Nywakweba on grounds that there was insufficient evidence to convict the former DCIO.
