The family of a girl who was allegedly defiled by a lawyer is crying for justice as the case has never been heard, two years after the incident took place.
The accused Cheryl Likuyi Onido who operates in Nairobi and its environs were first charged at the Thika law courts on December 6, 2021, with defilement contrary to Section 8 (1).
He is accused of committing the offence on January 23, 2021, at a hotel in Thika town, slightly more than two years ago.
The lawyer, according to the minor’s relatives, is related to the victim and was aware of the fact when he preyed on the innocent girl.
Speaking to journalists in Thika town,
her brother Daniel Wandera said that the girl, aged 17 at that time, had just joined a Thika-based University and was introduced to the lawyer as her close relative by their elder sister.
“We reside in Mombasa and my younger sister had just joined University. She had been earlier introduced to Onido as our uncle by our elder sister even though we hadn’t met him before. The lawyer is my mother’s step-brother,” he said.
He disclosed that the Lawyer offered to be checking on the young girl on behalf of her family members since they reside far away.
He said that on a fateful day, Onido contacted the girl and arranged to meet her in Thika town so that he can buy her some items to facilitate her stay in school.
“We are still puzzled by what transpired and how our ‘uncle’ managed to keep our sister in town until late at night when he booked a room at a hotel within the city said Wandera.
“My sister told us that the room had two beds and that it was almost midnight when he [Onido] started touching her indecently and eventually forced himself on her,” he explained.
He said later on they noticed that all was not well with their sister through her social media posts indicating that she was undergoing a stressful situation.
“A friend of hers who she had confided to about the ordeal broke the news to us. It was painful,” he noted.
When the matter came up for hearing last Thursday, February 9, 2023, before Thika Senior Principal Magistrate Atiang Mitulah, Onido who is representing himself in the case notified the court that he had been granted stay orders by the High Court in Kiambu to allow verification of the girl’s birth certificate and assessment of her age.
Justice Rachel Ngetich on Wednesday stayed the proceedings at the lower court to allow the defence counsel to carry on with the verification of birth certificate and have age assessed.
“The High Court has allowed me to have the girl undergo the age assessment and I am also waiting for verification of her birth certificate by the Mombasa registrar of person office,” he said.
The accused also made a suggestion that the girl avails herself and that all parties agree on a date to visit Kenyatta National Hospital for the assessment.
However, the Magistrate dismissed this saying it was unlikely for the parties to agree. He also directed Onido to seek clarification from the High Court on the interpretation of the order.
“We cannot purport to deviate from what the High Court has ordered,” the Magistrate said.
The matter will come up for a hearing on June 7, 2023.
