Mum weeps in court after son is handed 30 years for raping granny
A woman broke down on Thursday after her son was sentenced to 30 years in prison for raping a 94 year-old granny.
Ms Monica Wairimu wept as her 29 year-old son Paul Mbiu Gacheru was being escorted to the cells by court orderlies. She told journalists that the judgement was unfair.
“This is the first time my son is being brought to court and I feel someone framed him in order to see him out of sight,” said Ms Wairimu.
The suspect found guilty of raping Ms Lucy Muthoni Karanja. The deceased died on November 25, 2015 of unrelated causes.
Resident magistrate Judicaster Nthuku in her judgment termed the man a danger to the society.
YOUNG AND ENERGETIC
The magistrate said she failed to understand why a young and energetic man would choose to attack an old lady who is weak and defenseless.
“The court feels that the accused person ought to have allowed the old lady live her sunset days in peace. Any man like him who can rape a 94-year-old woman is a danger to the entire society and I therefore sentence him to 30 years in prison,” ruled Ms Nthuku.
Mr Gacheru is alleged to have crept into the old woman’s house in the middle of the night through a hole he had dug through the mud wall.
Ms Lucy Wanjiku, the old woman’s neighbor who testified in court, said she heard screams from the victim’s house which was only twenty meters away and rushed to the scene with her husband.
“Upon arrival at around 11:30 pm, we found the woman’s door locked but there was a big hole on the wall. We heard her scream for help saying to someone ‘you are hurting my chest, you want to kill me’ whereas a man’s voice was heard commanding her to cooperate, he was telling her to ‘spread her legs apart’,” said the witness.
SCREAMED FOR HELP
The victim screamed for help before other neighbors came in large numbers and ordered for the man to open the door.
The court heard that the accused person opened the door and came out with his pants unfastened while the old lady was still lying on the floor.
The neighbors tied the suspect with a rope and left him at the scene the whole night before taking him to the police station the following morning.
When she appeared in court, the old lady could not testify. The psychiatric examination report revealed that she suffered from age related dementia with memory impairment and inability to reason out.
