Malindi high court has clarified the law on the weight of child testimony in sexual offense cases when other evidence is lacking. The court reduced Baraka Kaingu's sentence from 30 to 20 years for defiling a 15-year-old girl. The ruling relied solely on the child's testimony after deeming it truthful.
The high court in Malindi has clarified the law regarding the weight of children's testimony in sexual offense cases, particularly when other evidence is insufficient. This came up in the case of Baraka Kaingu, convicted of defiling a 15-year-old girl he had married. Kaingu was arrested between May 1 and 20, 2022, after police disrupted a wedding ceremony in Kaloleni sub-county, Kilifi County. Existing medical evidence did not support the defilement claims. The lower court sentenced him to 30 years, but the high court reduced it to 20 years, the maximum for the offense. The court treated Kaingu as a first-time offender due to no evidence of prior crimes. The law permits conviction based solely on a child's testimony if the court believes the child is telling the truth.