Kenyan man named Kifo charged with assaulting wife & attempted murder
James Kifo, who is accused of brutalising his wife in Tharaka, was yesterday arraigned in a Chuka court.
He has denied charges of sexual offence, attempted murder, committing an unnatural act and acting indecently.
He was also charged with illegally leaving the Nairobi metropolitan area, where movement of people is restricted because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He appeared before Resident Magistrate Njoki Kahara. The court heard that on May 16, in Marimanti, Tharaka-Nithi County, in the presence of the couple’s three-year-old son, he inserted pepper and salt into his wife’s genitals and pushed in the substances with a knife wrapped in tissue paper.
Prosecutor Eric Momanyi asked the court to deny Mr Kifo bond, arguing that he was a flight risk as after committing the alleged offences, he went into hiding. He was arrested on Thursday morning in Kaningo village in Tseikuru, Kitui County, in the house of a witchdoctor.
The court was told that if released, he was likely to interfere with investigations and was a threat to his wife and son.
“The safety of the accused could not be guaranteed because the public is very bitter with him,” Mr Momanyi said.
The court also heard that Mr Kifo had been charged in a Marimanti for allegedly causing grievous harm and threatening to kill someone.
But in his defence, Mr Kifo argued that he was not a flight risk as he has been attending other matters before court. He added that his son, whom prosecutors plan to line up as a witness, is only three years old and could not speak and that he is no threat to his wife, who is not in Tharaka but at their home in Laikipia County. “I urge the court to balance the two sides because I am not a flight risk as alleged and cannot interfere with investigations,” he said.
Magistrate Kahara said she will rule on the bond matter on June 10 and remanded the accused at the Embu GK prison.
By ALEX NJERU
Source-nation.co.ke
Kenyan man named Kifo charged with assaulting wife & attempted murder
