Death sentence for 3 Kenyan men who stripped and abused woman in 2014

Three men who attacked and abused a woman on a bus in Kenya have been handed death sentences by a magistrate court in the capital, Nairobi. The said incident took place on the night of September 19, 2014.

The Star newspaper reported that the three were convicted of robbery with violence. The crime of stripping the woman attracted a further 25 years which is effectively suspended due to the death sentence.

The three men, a bus driver, his conductor and a third person in 2014 stripped a woman on a bus in an action the trial judge described as ‘senseless and uncouth act that they seemed to enjoy because they were cheering as they stripped the woman.’

“What you thought was a joke should not be taken lightly as a woman’s privacy and decency should be respected at all times,” Magistrate Francis Andayi stressed.

The main material of prosecution was a viral video on the said act. The 59-seconds video sparked outrage in the East African country with women and children marching through the capital calling for justice.

The victim, who at the time was said to have been abused due to the nature of her dressing, told the court that her ordeal lasted more than the duration of the video. She also disclosed during the trial that but for a lie she told about her HIV status, she could have been raped.

The attack took place at Millennium petrol station in Githurai 44, Nairobi county, where the woman’s Sh41,700 (about $400) was also stolen.