A court in Maralal, Samburu County, has acquitted a man accused of raping a woman.

Senior Principal Magistrate Temba Sitati acquitted Joseph Lokwawi, saying the evidence presented by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) was manufactured.

“It is the judgement of the court that the DPP’s evidence was incredible due to fabrication, and this doubt favours the defence. The result is an acquittal of all charges under section 215 of the Criminal Procedure Code,” said Sitati.

Lokwawi was accused that on October 5, 2023, in Maralal Town, Samburu County, he raped C.L.

In his defence, Lokwawi said that C.L was a sex worker who he chased away from the premises where he was working as a security guard.

He said C.L. had approached him to allow her to position herself outside the premise to lure clients, but he refused and chased her away. A few days later, he said, C.L returned with the police with a fabricated story that he had raped her.

But according to C.L., she met the accused, whom she knew by his alias “Lomdang,” and asked him to take her somewhere to relax because she usually collapsed due to epilepsy, and was on medication that required rest.

She said Lokwawi took her to a nearby house where there was a mattress and that no sooner had she entered than she fell down in an epileptic fit and lost consciousness.

C.L. told the court that when she regained consciousness, she found herself bleeding from the vagina and suspected that the accused had raped her.

She said she sought medical attention at the Samburu County Referral Hospital and afterwards, reported to the police and led the police to arrest Lokwawi.

Sitati noted that the CL rape account was incredible because the clinical officer who examined her a short time after the alleged rape did not observe any lacerations or bruises to her genitalia.

The court said during the cross-examination, C.L.’s testimony contradicted that of the investigator, a  Mr Musyoka, who said she raised the alarm that attracted Good Samaritans who rescue her.

“So between the complainant, who says she never screamed, and the investigator, who says she raised an alarm to an extent that passersby intervened, who should be believed? This irreconcilable contradiction casts the first dark nimbus clouds of doubt over this case,” said Sitati.

He said a medical report to prove that C.L. was an epileptic was not adduced in court by the investigating officer.

Also, the court noted that in CL’s first report, she clearly said there was an “attempt to rape her,” but in court she completely changed the narration and report, saying the rape actually took place.

“If her first report was that it was an attempt to rape her, why would she in the same vein state that she was bleeding from a completed act of rape? The clinical officer did not observe any lacerations or bruises to her genitalia consistent with forced vaginal penetration,” said Sitati.

The magistrate also noted that it was not clear if Lemdong and Lokwawi are one and the same person.