The hearing of a case in which a 27-year-old man was accused of defiling a grade three pupil, has been postponed by a Nyahururu court for lack of witnesses.
Resident Magistrate Patricia Gichohi, ordered the case be heard on December 16, 2021 as no witness turned up for the hearing that was slated for Tuesday.
James Kimani, had pleaded not guilty to the charges of defiling the girl on September 23 2021, and was remanded in custody.
The Court heard that the victim, who was attacked by the suspect on her way to school, is still under medication.
The prosecution, while briefing the Court, said that after the incident Kimani fled the area to avoid arrest.
With the help of the local residents, Ndaragwa police officers located and arrested him from his hide out on September 25, 2021.
“The grade three pupil sustained major injuries that have seen her in and out of the hospital for the last one month,” the Prosecution Counsel said.
According to Jane Mwangi, the complainant’s lawyer, the victim could not present herself before the Court due to her health condition. She further stated that the victim was yet to resume school since she is still under medication.
“My client could not make it to court today, because she was having an appointment with the doctor,” Mwangi said.
For this reason and for the fact that two police officers who were to serve as witnesses in this case were also unable to make it to Court, the Court ordered that the hearing be postponed to December 16, 2021.
“This hearing cannot be continued in the absence of both the complainant and the witnesses. Therefore, the next hearing to this case will be on December 16 this year,” said Gichohi.
The Magistrate also ordered that the DNA specimen results be brought to Court during the next hearing to serve as evidence.
The suspect who is still in remand pleaded with the Magistrate to release him on bond, claiming that his hearing had been delayed. The Magistrate, however, denied him the Bond
