Kenya: taxi sex assault suspect admits to attempting to flee

A key suspect in the filmed sexual assault of a diplomat has told a Kenyan court that he attempted to flee the country when he realized his pictures had gone viral on social media.

Zachariah Nyaora Obadia appeared in Nairobi's Milimani Law Courts on Tuesday, a day after police arrested him at the Tanzanian border. He will now be detained by police while investigations continue.

The Victim of the sexual assault is a UN worker, whose name has been withheld due to legal reasons.

Witnesses told local media she was involved in an accident with a motorcycle taxi operator.

"She's traumatised, she’s a foreigner - if it was you [a Kenyan], you would feel the trauma. It must be worse for her, she would need counselling," her lawyer Philip Murgor told the BBC.

"The action taken is long overdue, but it is never too late to do the right thing," Mr Murgor added.

Mr Nyaora, who is a motorcycle taxi operator, was positively identified by his wife and relatives in the outrageous clip that has since gone viral.

That video sparked public outrage and led to President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered a crackdown on motorbike taxi operators and hundreds of arrests.