78-year-old trader appeals life sentence in defilement case

A-78-year-old man serving life imprisonment after he was found guilty of defiling an eight-year-old girl wants the court to free him, arguing that he was framed.

Appearing before High Court in Eldoret, Luke Owino (pictured) told Justice Reuben Nyakundi that he is too old to continue languishing in prison on a framed up charge orchestrated by the minor’s mother.

Looking weak and frail in the dock, Owino pleaded with Nyakundi to release him and maintained his innocence.

He told the judge that he was not in good terms with the complainant’s mother after he turned down her request to borrow foodstuff in his grocery for defaulting on payments.

“The mother of the minor framed me for the charge after I turned down her request to borrow more goods from my grocery stall after she failed to clear the debts of goods she took,” he said.

In his appeal, Owino contended that the Magistrate’s Court erred in sentencing him to life in prison, arguing that prosecution did not prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.

He told the judge that medical records produced in court as evidence against him were not stamped and verified by a medical doctor at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital.

“The scene of crime officers have never visited the scene where the said crime was committed and also no statements were recorded from me and the minor,” he told the court.

Judge ordered that Owino be taken back to Eldoret GK Prison until March 27 when he will rule on his fate.