His victim took a bath, but he was still found guilty of rape: How Busia court nailed man

By Moses Masinde.

A middle-aged man from Busia County was on Friday, August 16, sentenced to five years in jail for raping his customer.

Busia Principal Magistrate Samson Temu said despite the inexistence of direct evidence to prove Rodgers Ouma raped his victim, scratch marks were found on the victim’s neck on the day the alleged rape took place, suggesting that there was a struggle between the woman and her aggressor.

The court heard that on March 15, 2019, the woman hired Ouma, a boda boda rider, to transport her to her home in Busia Town, when he rerouted into a thicket and raped the customer after threatening to kill her should she raise the alarm.

The victim, however, took a bath before reporting the rape incident, thereby destroying the evidence, the magistrate said.  

Women’s rights activist in Busia County, Mary Makokha, welcomed the ruling, saying justice was served despite there being no direct evidence to nail the suspect.

“This ruling goes a long way in proving to people that sometimes rape cases can be won in court even when the direct proof was accidentally, or due to lack of awareness, tampered with,” said Makokha.