Inside Africa – Kenya men sentenced to death for stripping woman

Three Kenyan men – who stripped, robbed and attacked a woman in a bus, in an incident that was recorded and widely shared on social media three years ago – have been sentenced to death by a magistrate in the capital, Nairobi.

The death sentence was imposed after the three were convicted of robbery with violence. A further sentence of 25 years was given for stripping the woman, Jilo Kadida, a court reporter with Kenya’s privately owned Star newspaper, told the BBC.

The jail term was, however, suspended as they had already been handed the death penalty, she added.

The three sentenced men are bus driver Nicholas Mwangi, conductor Meshack Mwangi and Edward Ndung’u.

Nairobi chief magistrate Francis Andayi said the attack was a “senseless and uncouth act that they seemed to enjoy because they were cheering as they stripped the woman”, the privately owned Daily Nation newspaper reported.

The victim told the court that there were about seven men in the bus during the attack and that they wanted to rape her but she lied that she is HIV positive.

She said the video recording shared on social media was only 59 seconds but the incident lasted longer, the Daily Nation reported.

The video of the attack sparked protests with hundreds of women marching in Nairobi under the banner #MyDressMyChoice, following reports that the men attacked her for allegedly being “indecently dressed” in a miniskirt.