A woman was yesterday sentenced to 15 years imprisonment by a Bondo court for committing an indecent act with a 14-year-old boy. Brenda Ochieng' was charged that on September 20, last year at Mageta Island in Bondo district, she intentionally forced the minor to engage in sex with her without his consent. She faced an alternative count of committing an indecent act with the little boy by unlawfully touching his private parts.

Prosecution witnesses told the court that the minor had been sent to visit his aunt at the island. On arrival he found her away from home but the accused, who is the aunt's neighbour, invited him to wait for his aunt in her (accused's) house. Dressed in a lesso, she pounced on the unsuspecting minor and dragged him into the bedroom before engaging in sex. All the while she was wielding a knife and threatening to stab him.

Achieng', who appeared before Bondo resident magistrate Margaret Nafula, pleaded guilty to the offence and asked for leniency and forgiveness saying she was the sole breadwinner for her family. However, the magistrate said such offences were rampant in the region and Achieng', therefore, deserved a severe penalty to act as an example to other people with such behaviour. The court gave her 14 days to appeal against the ruling.