Mentally ill man gets five years in jail for attempted rape

The judge said the Constitution expressly provides for someone to stand in for the Speaker and preside over the House business whenever he is away. PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The court heard how on the material day Mr Njuguna sneaked into the woman’s house when her husband was away.

A Nanyuki court has sentenced a mentally sick man to five years in jail for attempted rape.

While passing the sentence against Duncan Kunieka Njuguna, Senior Resident Magistrate Evanson Ngigi ruled that though the accused suffers from schizophrenia, his action to commit an offence was premeditated.

MEDICAL REPORT

Before taking plea, Mr Njuguna underwent a psychiatric test at the Nanyuki Teaching and Referral Hospital and a medical report compiled stated that he suffers from schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that interferes with a person's ability to think clearly, manage emotions, make decisions and relate to others.

Mr Njuguna had been charged with attempted rape and indecent assault.

He was accused of committing the offence committed on October 15, 2016 near Umande Shopping Centre in Laikipia East Sub-County.

But despite the recommendation by medics that Mr Njuguna was fit to take plea the trial proceeded to a full hearing, leading to a conviction.

“The fact that the accused gained entry to the house of the accused at midnight and had put a condom on clearly shows he had planned to rape the complainant,” Mr Ngigi said.

The court heard how on the material day Mr Njuguna sneaked into the woman’s house when her husband was away attending a burial planning committee meeting in the neighbourhood.

STRANGER IN BED

Once inside the house, he did not turn on the lights but went straight to the couple’s bedroom, he lifted a breastfeeding baby and placed it on one side of the bed and then started fondling the mother of three.

At first, the woman thought it was her husband who had returned home but when she called out his name, he did not respond and it was at that moment she realised it was a stranger.

She pushed him aside and called out for help. Neighbours responded and apprehended Njuguna outside the house as he tried to flee.

In his defence, Mr Njuguna told the court that he sufferers from a chronic mental disorder after he was involved in a road accident in 2010.

To back his claims, he produced a document to show that at one time he was receiving treatment at the Mathari National Teaching and Referral Hospital in Nairobi.