A man who was convicted of defiling a 11-year-old girl and infecting her with HIV will now serve 30 years in jail after successfully appealing his life sentence.
Chigongo Dzuye was convicted of defiling the minor after the court found him guilty of the offence in 2017.
Being aggrieved by the decision, he appealed to the High court which was dismissed making this a second appeal.
He argued that the sentence was harsh being a first offender.
In a judgement delivered on April 14 by judges George Odunga and Jessie Lesiit said that the learned trial magistrate, in imposing the life sentence, stated that the offence was serious and the law prescribed minimum sentences for the same.
The appellate court also noted that the learned Judge of the High Court found that pursuant to section 8(2) of the Sexual Offences Act, the court was mandated to impose life sentence.
Therefore, none of the two courts below considered any mitigating circumstances such as the contention by the Appellant that he was a first offender which was not challenged by the prosecution, the judges said.
"In the premises, we set aside the life sentence imposed on the Appellant and substitute therefore a sentence of 30 years to run from the date of his original conviction", the judges ruled.
It was the prosecution case that on the date of the incident, the minor who had earlier on knocked on her neighbour's door while crying in search of one Zena was later seen in the company of the accused as he bought juice for her.
The witness said the accused then led the girl into his house.
According to the girl, she was lured by the Appellant to his house where he defiled her.
The court heard it was not the first time he had defiled her.
She narrated the incident to her grandmother and they together with the neighbour went to Dzuye's house.
A member of Port Reitz Community Policing to whom the report of the incident was made, received the Appellant from the members of the public who had arrested and detained him and took him to Changamwe police station.
Upon examination by the medical doctor, it was found that the girl had a broken hymen, an abrasion in the anal opening, a bloody discharge and was infected with HIV Aids.
In his defence, the accused denied that he committed the offence and asserted that the charges were maliciously instigated.
