An angry father of 13 children who hit one of his sons to death for absconding school has been sentenced to serve one year in jail.
David Kiptoo Malel, was accused that on October 3, 2019, he fatally hit his 14- year-old son on the head after the boy absconded classes and vanished from home.
“October 2, last year the deceased had absconded classes. At around 6.30 a.m. the following day, the accused managed to find the deceased at a neighbor’s compound. He picked a stick and fatally hit the deceased on the head while scolding him and asking him why he was not going to school,” state prosecutor Ms. Susan Keli Kelly told the high court.
A postmortem conducted on October 6, 2018 by Dr. Nickson Mutai, established the cause of death as head injury due to assault.
The matter was reported at Litein Police Station and the accused was arrested and charged with the offense of murder contrary to section 203 as read with section 204 of the Penal Code.
After a plea agreement with the state, the charge was reduced to manslaughter contrary to section 202 as read with 205 of the Penal Code.
In mitigation, the accused through his counsel told the court that he was remorseful and regretted the son’s death.
The accused’s counsel also told the court that the accused family had forgiven him and welcomed him back home and that they were praying that he should be given a non-custodial sentence.
The court was also informed that the family had also held a Kipsigis traditional purification rite on October 9th 2018.
Two other letters, one from the local chief and the other from the Kimugul tea buying centre where the accused was employed, both vouching for the accused’s good character were also placed before the court.
Kericho High Court Justice Mumbi Ngugi, noted that while the court appreciated that accused was remorseful and doubtless had punished himself in his heart and mind, there was a need for him to serve some time appreciate the importance of human life, and for others in his community to learn a vital lesson.
“A stick wielded in anger on a child can have fatal consequences, and the law will punish a parent who acts in anger and injure or, as in this case, kills his child. I accordingly sentence the accused to a term of imprisonment for one year,” she said
The court granted the accused a right to appeal in 14 days.
