By
Patricia Kebirungi
It is not illegal for cousins to marry or engage in
sexual acts, the High Court has ruled.
High Court judge James Makau, in an appeal where a
man was contesting a conviction of alleged incest with a cousin by the
Magistrates Court, found that the Sexual Offences Act does not mention cousin
among the list of relatives under the offence of incest.
The accused was arrested and charged in 2014 for
allegedly engaging in sex with his16-year-old cousin. He denied the claims and
the case went to full hearing and lower court found him guilty of incest with
a10 year prison term.
Justice Makau ruled that the act was acceptable in
the constitution, by the fact that in some cultures in Kenya - such as Hindus
and Muslims - and some African communities, sexual acts between cousins are not
criminalized and ordered the man’s release.
No comments:
Post a Comment