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Court rejects appeal against 30-year sentence for sodomy
2008-10-06 10:38:26
By Rosemary Mirondo
The Court of Appeal has rejected the review application of Charles Barnabas seeking to challenge the 30-year jail term slapped on him for the offence of sodomising his nephew.
A panel comprising Justices Eusebia Munuo, January Msoffe and Mbarouk Mbarouk ruled that the application in question was time barred.
According to Justice Munuo the application was filed outside required time of 60 days since June 5, 2005 when they first determined his appeal.
She said grounds of objection raised by the state attorney that the application was lodged on September 25, last year, which is over 27 months since the court dismissed the appeal by Barnabas, who had challenged both conviction and sentence meted out to him by lower court and confirmed by the High Court.
The trial was told that Barnabas committed the offence on November 9, 1999 when he sodomised his own nephew.
On the material day, it was alleged that Barnabas left Usagara for Mwang’ombe area while riding a bicycle accompanied by his nephew.
However, when coming back home, at Duga area, the accused led his nephew into a bush where he ordered him to strip off his trousers.
Cheating him that he was inserting some medicine into his anus, he allegedly sodomised the boy.
He warned him not to tell anybody, otherwise he would beat him. The boy kept quiet after reaching home.
Three days later, his mother noticed an unusual scene. Her son had soiled his shorts.
She also noticed some feaces dripping from his pair of shorts. While the mother was taking a closer look, the boy pleaded with her not to beat him.
The boy told his mother that his uncle had sodomised him.
The mother took the case to the police where she was given a PF3 and took the boy to hospital, where it was proved that he had been sodomised.
The police arrested Barnabas and charged him with the offence, for which the court sentenced him to 30 years imprisonment.
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