Why I ran out of lodging naked: Mombasa man tells magistrate, leaving court in laughter

By Sophie Njoka.

A 32-year-old man left a Mombasa court in stitches on Thursday, when he admitted to running naked outside a lodging after he “saw a man’s hand pulling his trousers under the bed” shortly after undressing.

Dennis Oduso said he had hired a commercial sex worker at Kithemba Bar in Sabasaba area on Monday, July 29, and shortly after getting into a room with her, he “discovered that the woman had — strategically — placed a man under the bed to steal from him”.

Oduso told the court that it was his service-seller’s suggestion that they engage in ‘gland-to-gland combat’ in the said-room.

“Upon seeing my trouser being pulled under the bed, I panicked and dashed out naked. I feared that the man would beat me up,” Oduso told Resident Magistrate Edgar Kagoni.

The defendant went ahead to reveal how he met the commercial sex worker.

“I approached her for sex at the Kithemba Bar at 4:50am on Monday, July 29. After much negotiations, we agreed that I would pay her Ksh250 for her services,” said Oduso.

The accused said shortly after witnessing the “hand-under-bed” shocker, he bolted out with only a shirt in his hand.

While outside the lodging, Oduso said he began shouting, demanding his phone and cash that the “man, who was hiding under the lodging bed stole from me”.

“While announcing my grievances to the public, police came and arrested me,” Oduso told court.

The accused was, thereafter, charged with creating disturbance in a manner likely to cause a breach of peace.

Upon being interrogated by police, the man said he wasn’t causing any disturbance, but was only venting his anger after being robbed of his money and phone. The defendant, however, declined to reveal the amount of money that he “lost”.

The court, however, established that Oduso’s “hand-under-bed” allegations were false, and, he was, consequently, charged with giving false information to authorities.

The commercial sex worker, on her end, told the courts that Oduso refused to pay her after she offered him sexual services based on their earlier agreement.

“After having sex with him, the suspect declined to pay me for the services I rendered. I, therefore, screamed, attracting the attention of the lodging caretaker. Upon the caretaker’s arrival to our room, the accused bolted out naked and went to a nearby bar, where he broke two beer bottles and returned to the room, threatening to harm me,” said the sex worker.

In his defense, Oduso said: “I could not pay her because I hadn’t even tasted the cookie jar when the man under the bed stole from me. How could I pay for incomplete services? Furthermore, I did not have the money she was demanding because someone had stolen the cash from me. Your honour, I did not cause any disturbance, I only raised the alarm so that I could be given back my money.”

Oduso, however, pleaded with the court to set him free, claiming the sex worker she had hired conspired with an accomplice to steal from him.

Magistrate Edgar Kagoni ordered that Oduso be freed, but not before the justice-dispenser warned the suspect against “picking cheap sex workers charging Ksh250 for their services”.

“Up your game, you man. I have considered your mitigation, and I hereby set you free on both counts,” said magistrate Kagoni.