Court rejects application to detain Lang'ata man in battery case
Mr John Wambugu Wachira at a Milimani court on February 8, 2016. He is accused of battering his pregnant wife. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
Magistrate’s court rejected a request to have Mr John Wambugu Wachira detained for three days, saying the application lacked merit.
The court said it was “peculiar” that the police should seek a warrant for extended custodial orders yet it was a matter that could be handled at police station level.
A video and photos of the Wachira battering his wife went viral, with social media users calling for the assailant’s prosecution.
In the video, a man is seen slapping and punching the woman outside a house as another man looks on.
A court has declined to detain a man accused of battering his pregnant wife.
The woman, who is six months pregnant, is in Lang’ata Hospital.
Monday, the magistrate’s court rejected a request to have Mr John Wambugu Wachira detained for three days, saying the application lacked merit.
The court said it was “peculiar” that the police should seek a warrant for extended custodial orders yet it was a matter that could be handled at police station level.
Lang’ata OCPD Elijah Maina earlier said Mr Wachira was arrested the same day the crime took place but was freed on a Sh5,000 cash bail the following day.
Monday, an affidavit sworn by investigating officer Susan Moracha stated that Mr Wachira was arrested at Hunters, Kasarani, Nairobi, on Saturday, and that the complainant was yet to record a statement and fill a P3 form.
Ms Moracha, however, did not say if Mr Wachira was a threat to the security of the complainant or witnesses in the case.
He may now have to be taken to court tomorrow.
SLAPPING WOMAN
A video and photos of the brutality went viral, with social media users calling for the assailant’s prosecution.
In the video, a man is seen slapping and punching the woman outside a house as another man looks on.
At some point, the aggressor knocks the woman down and drags her by the legs into the house.
When the woman later emerges, her face and floor are blood-soaked.
She is seen stumbling before falling as someone is heard gasping in shock and asking for help.
Speaking from her hospital bed, the mother of two said it was not the first time she had been battered. She said she was admitted to KNH in 2015 after she was stabbed.
