By FAITH NYAMAI
nyamaif@gmail.com
A police officer who allegedly defiled a 16 year old girl who had been held in a police cell has been set free by the court.
Nyeri
law court’s chief John Onyiego set free Police constable Keffer Koome on Thursday and ruled out that the prosecution did not provide enough
evidence
to prove that indeed the police officer committed the crime.
Mr
Onyiego said the evidence given before the court was that Mr Koome took
the girl from police cells at Ichuga police patrol base in Nyeri and
took her
to his house where he allegedly defiled her but there is nothing to
show that the girl was defiled.
“The
court has established that the blood stains found on the girl’s clothes
were as a result of her menstrual blood and therefore there is no evidence before
this
court to prove that indeed the accused person defiled her,” said Mr
Onyiego.
Mr
Onyiego said the only offence that the police officer should have been
charged with was misuse of powers for removing an inmate from police
cells and
taking her to his house illegally.
However he said he cannot punish the officer with the offence as the charge was never brought before him.
“The
prosecution has failed to prove that the blood found in the girl’s
clothes was as a result of being defiled by the accused person,” said Mr
Onyiego.
Mr Koome is accused of committing the offence at Ichuga police patrol base on November 22 last year.
He is also faced an alternative charge of allowing his private parts to touch the private parts of the girl.
The
court heard that the girl had been arrested by police and taken to the
station after her husband accused her of setting their house on fire
after
disagreement.
The
court also heard that Mr Koome was on duty at the station when he found
the girl inside the police cells with other inmates, forced her out and
lead
her to his house where he defiled her.
Police said they rescued the girl from Mr Koome’s house where they found him with the girl on his bed defiling her.
The chief magistrate acquitted Mr Koome off the defilement charge and the alternative charge.
