•Man lured little boys with food and money to come to his house before unleashing force and defiling them.
•His defense was that his three son were framing him to take over his land and cows
Image: FILE
Jacob Kahiga Ndung’u had the habit of being friendly to children in his neighbourhood, gushing them with niceties like gifts, sending this one to do for him a task and inviting that other one to his house.
Unbeknown to parents of the children, the man who was pretending to be a nice and well-meaning adult was misbehaving with them; using carrot and stick to have them cooperate and be silent.
But just like 40 days is to a thief, his reprehensible behaviour made it to light, paving his way to prison. All this happened in a village in Nyandarua.
Four children came forward in 2011 when the crimes happened. There were some more other boys who got defiled by the man but they were not on record in the case and did not testify in court to recount their ordeal.
One of them, FWN was 10 years old at the time.
The man would send her to fetch for him water and bring to his house for Sh10 pay.
On one occasion, FWN brought water to the house and the man defiled her.
She told the court that she felt a lot of pain and bled from her private parts.
Upon telling her mother, she was taken to hospital and the matter reported to police.
The other three children were boys.
One of them, EMM was 12 and the man used the trick of sending him for water.
When he brought it to his house, the man defiled him repeatedly.
The boy did not tell his parents until Ndung’u did it the third time when two of his friends accompanied him to the man’s house.
Ndung’u did it also to the two companies of EMM on that very day.
Another child on record was HGK, 12, who also fell to his trap and so was PK, 11.
The boys detailed in testimonies how the man lured them using goodies but once he had violated them, he threatened them using various things, including death.
One of the boys said he knew the man very well because they were neighbours.
He said one day, he “had gone to take the donkeys to feed near Ndung’u’s home when he called him to his house. The [man then] removed his clothes and did “bad manners” to him. He felt pain and screamed. [Ndung’u] threatened to kill him if he told anyone.”
Another victim said he had been sent by his mother to collect milk from a nearby home and was in the company of a friend.
“The appellant offered them tea, he then carried PW8 to the bed, removed his trousers and inner wear did “bad manners” to him through his anus. The appellant threatened to kill him if he told anyone,”court papers say.
When he was eventually arrested and taken to court, he claimed he was being framed by his older son who allegedly wanted to get rid of him in a land inheritance tussle.
The court convicted him on all four counts and was sentenced to life in prison and 20 years in others.
But he appealed to the High Court unsuccessfully and undeterred, he appealed also at the Court of Appeal.
Here, he questioned the age of the victims, insisted on existing grudge with his children and credibility of evidence that was adduced against him.
The judgment delivered on July 28, 2023, asserted that the evidence was watertight and that even if the grudge story was true, he did not link it with the children. The court also upheld his conviction, saying he merited the punishment.