A court in Siaya County on Wednesday handed a one-day non-custodial sentence to a woman who murdered her husband following an ugly domestic confrontation.
In her ruling, High Court judge Roselyne Aburili said Truphena Aswani, 49, had been made to suffer greatly by her husband who abused and threatened her with death over a Title Deed.
The judge, while terming the deceased man as violent, said Aswani will be remembered as a battered, de-humanised and violated woman who persevered rampant domestic violence.
Justice Aburili noted that the dead man had also separated from his two previous wives, who underwent similar domestic violations leaving his four children under Aswani’s care.
The court heard that the accused was at one point hospitalised after being physically abused and battered by his husband, James Oyengo Obochi, following a domestic quarrel.
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On the particular day of the tragic argument, Oyengo is said to have returned home while drunk and demanded the Title Deed of a parcel of land she had inherited from her father.
When she refused to cooperate, he reportedly confronted her with a machete and in the ensuing tussle, in a bid to defend herself, she grabbed the panga and cut him several times.
Based on papers filed in court, she then ferried his dead husband’s body and buried it in a neighbour’s farm but was arrested after confessing to the murder on December 15, 2020.
In her ruling, Justice Aburili said she deserved a non-custodial sentence for her to get counselling for her traumatic experiences in the hands of her abusive HIV positive husband.
The judge further argued that her ruling on Aswani’s murder case will also make other women who have suffered gender-based Violence (GBV) to have their voices heard.
Aburili urged women report abuses to the authorities and ordered that Aswani be aided to get counselling and safety away from her marital home after finishing her one-day sentence.
