A man jailed for sexual assault has been set free after niece confessed she lied under oath.
The man only identified as AJC, was imprisoned on September 12, 2014, following a testimony by his niece that he had defiled her at their home.
He had spent five years in prison.
Reports indicate, the niece identified by the court as CSS, to conceal her identity, got to school late sometime in 2014 and lied to her teacher that the accused had defiled her, to avoid being punished.
The pupil’s lie would get her uncle in trouble; the teacher reported the matter to the police.
After a four-month trial and testimony by the victim, the man was slapped with a 20-year-jail term.
Four years later, guilt pushed the now 18-year-old girl to disclose her hidden secret to her mother.
Thereafter, after much deliberations the girl wrote to the court explaining that she had fabricated rape accusations against her uncle.
“I testified in court and said that I would tell the truth. I was untruthful because I feared. I had been late in school and when I was asked where I was, I told a lie. If I had told the truth, I would have been beaten. It was the teacher who took the matter to the police. When I heard that A had been sentenced to 20 years, I felt very bad and that is why I called my mother. AJC has never defiled me,” the letter read in part.
On her part, the mother of the girl, pleaded with the court to release her brother, claiming she was not aware that the girl lied under oath.
Following the revelations, High Court judge Edward Muriithi ordered that the girl be punished, but left the decision to the Director of Public Prosecution Noordin Haji.
“The complainant, on her admission before this court, lied in her testimony before the trial court, and in terms of section 19 (2) of the Oaths and Statutory Declarations Act committed an offence. The matter shall be reported to the DPP who, in exercise of the State’s prosecutorial powers under Article 157 of the Constitution, shall consider in his discretion whether to prosecute the complainant in this case who admitted to have lied as a minor before the trial court,” the judge ruled.
The Standard reports that the court ordered for the immediate release of AJC, a ruling not opposed by the DPP.
The girl risks a 2 years imprisonment and a fine of Sh2,000, or both, according to the law governing oaths and testimonies before a judge or magistrate.
Read: Death Threats As Mother Seeks Justice For Defiled Nine Year Old Daughter
The revelations come days after another girl confessed to falsely accusing her father – serving a jail term for rape – saying she was coerced by her mother to lie.
Julius Wambua, who has already served a 10-year-jail term at Kamiti Maximum prison, disclosed to a local media that he hopes justice will soon prevail.
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