Boy tells court how uncle allegedly defiled, killed sister in Garissa

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The younger brother of a 17-year-old girl who was allegedly sexually assaulted and strangled to death by her uncle has narrated to the court a chilling account of how he witnessed the incident.

In his testimony as the first prosecution witness before Justice John Onyiengo at the Garissa High Court, the minor explained that the incident occurred on the night of November 16, 2025, at Borehole 5 in Fafi Sub-County, Garissa County.

The accused a community health volunteer, has pleaded not guilty to murdering his victim at around midnight on 16th November 2025.

The witness told Principal Prosecution Counsel Bernard Owuor the incident happened a few hours after he and his sister returned home from visiting another paternal uncle.

He told court that after arriving home, they spread mattresses on the verandah where his sister lay down while playing with a phone that was charging, before later moving inside the house to sleep.

The witness said the accused, who is their father’s younger brother, arrived later and slept on the witness’s mattress, while the deceased slept next to them.

He testified that in the middle of the night he was awakened by unusual commotion and realized his sister was struggling as the accused allegedly touched her breasts.

The boy told the court that he pretended to be asleep as he watched the events unfold in full glare of solar lighting system inside the house.

He said his sister kicked the wall as she struggled, but the accused covered her mouth and strangled her until she stopped breathing.

According to the testimony, after the girl died, the accused allegedly undressed both himself and the deceased and defiled her.

He then went outside to wash his face before returning to the house and repeating the act on two occasions, the witness said.

He testified that the accused later dressed both himself and the deceased, placed her body on the mattress and lay next to it, before threatening to kill him if he revealed what had happened.

At dawn, the accused allegedly woke the minor and took him to the mosque for morning prayers. After the prayers, he sent the boy to call their aunt, one Arabel Bilal.

The witness said the woman screamed upon seeing the body, attracting neighbours to the homestead.

Upon observation, members of the public noticed marks and bloodstains on the deceased’s neck and questioned what had happened.

The accused allegedly told the crowd that the girl had developed pimples after being treated for dengue fever.

Some members of the public alerted police but the accused had fled the scene by the time officers arrived.

Police removed the body for postmortem examination to establish the cause of death, while the minor was taken into custody for protection.

Further, the court heard that the children’s mother is deceased and that they lived with their father, who was away at the time of the incident.

The court granted the accused a bond of Sh1 million with a surety of similar amount.

The court has set further hearing on February 18, 2026.