Three Kenyans get life sentence for stripping, assaulting ‘provocatively dressed’ woman
NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — A Kenyan court on Wednesday sentenced three men to life for stripping and sexually assaulting a woman they believed was dressed too provocatively.
The verdict capped a case that prompted hundreds to march through the capital Nairobi in short, fitted clothing in 2014, calling for an end to violence against women after a video of the attack was made public.
“We are equal, but it is equally important to respect the dignity of a woman,” chief magistrate Francis Andayi said as he handed out the sentences.
“This is what many uncultured men do out there,” he added.
The assault at a petrol station on Nairobi’s outskirts, in which the victim was stripped, sexually assaulted and had her phone and cash stolen by a violent mob, was captured on camera and widely circulated on social media.
It was part of a rash of assaults against women and led activists mobilised under the hash tag #MyDressMyChoice to demonstrate.
The three men — Edward Gitau, Nicholas Mwangi and Meshak Mwangi — were technically given the death sentence. However Kenya’s ban on carrying out executions means the trio will spend the rest of their lives in jail.