A 36-year-old Chinese athlete Chen Ching Yen, who trains in Iten town has been charged in an Eldoret court over threats to kill his girlfriend.
Yen was arrested by officers attached to the ATPU in Eldoret two weeks ago after the girlfriend Michelle Jemutai Koskei reported him to the police over threats to her life.
Senior Principal Magistrate Onkoba Mogire freed the runner on a Sh50,000 bond with a surety of similar amount to be deposited by a Kenyan citizen.
Mogire has directed the athlete to ensure he appears in court whenever he is required.
Police have cited a text message the athlete allegedly sent to the girlfriend two years ago.
Yen is accused that on May 9, 2022 at an unknown place within the Republic of Kenya, he sent an electronic message via WhatsApp to the complainant threatening to terminate her life.
The one-paragraph threatening message read in part:
“Let me tell you, I can kill you and the baby and you will do nothing....I will cut you into pieces.”
Yen is represented by lawyers Alex Masakha and Peter Momonayi.
Investigating officer in the case Githinji Kaaria had requested the court to detain the athlete for another two weeks causing a clash with the lawyers of the suspect.
“Your honour I need more time to complete the investigations against the accused,” Kaaria said.
But lawyers for the accused objected noting that the police had no reason to seek further detention of the athlete.
“The investigating officer had adequate time to complete investigations including recording statements from witnesses," Masakha said.
He said the officer had not recorded statements from the complainant two weeks since the runner was arrested.
“Up to now the complainant in the matter has not recorded her statement with the police including other witnesses the IO intends to line up as state witnesses in the matter,” Masakha states.
Onkoba however rejected the request to continue detaining the athlete and directed that the matter be mentioned on October 2, 2024, for a pre-trial hearing.
