Three gang-rape suspects released on Sh100,000 bond
Dennis Kiplangat Koech, Nicodemus Kiplangat Kurgat and a minor (not in picture), suspects in the gang-rape of a Bomet student, hide their faces in court on November 22, 2018, when they were released on Sh100,000 bond each. PHOTO | VITALIS KIMUTAI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The suspects are Dennis Kiplangat Koech, Nichodemus Kiplangat Kurgat and 14-year-old boy, who cannot be named as he is a minor.
- Bomet Senior Resident Magistrate Kipkirui Kibelion released them, noting it was their constitutional right and that they were not flight risks.
Three suspects in the rape of a high school student in Bomet County have been released on Sh100,000 bond each with sureties of the same amount.
They are Dennis Kiplangat Koech, Nichodemus Kiplangat Kurgat and 14-year-old boy, who cannot be named as he is a minor.
RIGHTS
Bomet Senior Resident Magistrate Kipkirui Kibelion released them on Thursday, noting it was their constitutional right and that they were not flight risks as prosecutor Mark Barasa claimed.
“The prosecution has not tabled any evidence to show that the suspects are a flight risk, that they will interfere with investigations or that if released pending the hearing of the case, their lives would be threatened,” stated Mr Kibelion.
“There is no reason to deny the suspects bail for the simple reason they have not acquired national identity cards as medical reports tabled in court show two of them just turned 18."
He ordered that the minor be held at the Kericho Juvenile Remand Home.
Mr Rodgers Mukumia, a Bomet-based advocate, is representing the suspects, who have denied gang-rape charges and indecently touching the girl in the attack on November 5.
The crime is said to have taken place at Kongotik Sub-location in Bomet East Sub-county.
The prosecutor said police were pursuing two suspects who have been on the run.
The case will be mentioned on December 14 and heard on January 21, 2019.
EVIDENCE
On November 12, Mr Barasa urged the court to defer bond determination as the victim wished to make a presentation before the magistrate.
“Some new evidence has emerged in relation to the case, including an electronic recording that is currently being analysed,” he said at the time.
Independent investigations found that a youth secretly recorded an audio as his village mates raped the girl.
He released it a few hours later and is helping police with investigations.
In the three-minute viral audio, the girl is heard pleading for mercy from men who seem well-known to her.
It emerged that one of the suspects is a known boda boda rider who invited her to his house and then called the others.
