Ex-husband of Narok woman attacked by brothers freed on Ksh. 800,000 bond
Ex-husband of Narok woman attacked by brothers
A former husband of a Narok woman who was brutally attacked by her own brothers after she left her marriage and remarried was released on bond worth Ksh. 800,000.
Before Narok Resident Magistrate Esther Mwikali Mutuku, the accused, Jackson Senchura Keiwa, was released after the prosecution failed to establish that the accused was likely to interfere with witnesses or thwart justice.
In her decision, Magistrate Mutuku indicated that Keiwa was permanently residing in a house, would not run away and did not present as great a danger to the complainant. The court also observed that the woman at the center of the case had already paid off another partner, which decreased the possibility of direct conflict.
However, the magistrate seriously warned Keiwa not to interfere with the witnesses, including his former wife. He has also been instructed to appear in every court session of the case until the case is concluded.
The case is based on a shocking event that gained national interest when a video was recorded and shared online in which the woman was violently beaten by her four brothers. The attack is reported to have occurred after she had decided to leave her marriage with Keiwa and get married to another man, a move that her brothers were strongly against. A mother of two, the woman was a victim of the attack because she apparently did not obey the will of her family.
Although now Keiwa is on bond, the four brothers who were involved in the assault are still at large. The police have stepped up the hunt to apprehend the suspects who are alleged to be the ones who undertook the beating that left many Kenyans shocked.
The police found out that Keiwa had been arrested on suspicion of inciting the attack last Friday. Police claimed that he was instigating the brothers of the woman by pointing out that he had already paid dowry to her and thus retained some rights with her. He is charged with trying to kidnap and forcibly imprison Millicent Semeta Rotiken, his 22-year-old former wife, at his home.
The attack has caused a lot of uproar in the nation, and many have decried the incident as a violent act based on very destructive cultural beliefs. The outrage among the people saw Gender Cabinet Secretary Hanna Cheptumo visiting Narok County, where he condemned the attack in the strongest words.
In her speech, CS Cheptumo made it evident that the government would not tolerate such infractions and that cultural norms cannot be used to supersede the Constitution or the rights of women. She promised Kenyans that the culprits would be taken to justice and the state was determined to ensure that women are not victims of gender based violence.
Since the legal action is still underway, the case has brought to the fore more issues on gender rights, domestic violence, and conflict between traditional practices and constitutional rights.
