Sexual offences -House help defiles and infects boy with STI
By: Sere Neema
Posted on Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Are we aware of the intentions of those around us? Do we know the law? When to call an act a sexual offence?
Women in sexual violence
Neema Matiko Thomas, a 22-year-old house help from Migori County has been sentenced to life imprisonment for defiling her employer’s six-year-old boy and infecting him with an STI. The house help sought forgiveness but the court ruling was final.
While the boy was testifying, Rongo Senior Resident Magistrate Raymond Lang’at says, the medication he was given to foresee any infection, was having negative effects on him.
Mark Omuga, a lawyer during MORNING LIVE with Nick Mudimba, says according to the law, defiling a child below the age of 11 is automatically life imprisonment as the child is unable to give consent.
Lawyer Omuga’s take on sexual offence acts
“There is need for civic education in matters regarding sex”
Mark Omuga says that it is very possible for Kenyan women to be sexual offenders even though the narrative has been men are the ones capable of such offences.
He also enlightens us on the difference between sexual assault and rape when it comes to women. When a woman has intercourse with a man without his consent, it is automatically rape, whether the man has had a reaction or not.
However, when it is an offence on a fellow woman, then it is not considered rape. It is sexual assault. It is only rape when a sexual organ is involved.
Lawyer Omuga, having being in his line of work for some time is also uncomfortable with how rulings are conducted. In particular, mandatory jail term for sexual offences.
In regards to the sexual offence acts, the law has indicated a specific jail term for specific cases. However, Mark feels a judge should determine the sentencing through the circumstance of a situation. That way people serve a fair period in jail.
