Morogoro: Man to serve five years for burning mouths of own kids

BY ABDALLAH BAWAZIR.

The Morogoro Resident Magistrate’s court has sentenced Jaribu Juma (29), a resident of Airport area to 18 years imprisonment for his brutal acts against four children.

The sentence was passed by magistrate Godfrey Isaya in the presence of the charged person who however had no relative present in court. 

The magistrate said he reached the judgment based on the evidence submitted in court by state attorneys Sunday Hyera and Akisa Mhando, which demonstrated Juma’s wrongdoings. 

He was found guilty on all four accounts. 

    

On the first count, Juma was sentenced for four years in jail for causing serious injuries to the first child.

He received the same sentence in jail for injuring the second child.

On the third account of brutality against another child Jaribu Juma was fined 300,000/- failure to which would be jailed for five years whereas for the forth count the convict person was fined the same amount or spend five years in jail.

However the magistrate Isaya elaborated on the sentences, if the convict failed to pay and has to serve the sentences in jail, they would be served concurrently for 5 years and if he paid the fine for the third and fifth counts he would be imprisoned for four years.

Magistrate Isaya explained to Juma of his right to appeal within 30 days from the date of judgment.

He noted before reading out the judgment that the court had taken into consideration that the abused children were Juma’s  and that it was his first offence.

 He said he was a father who had turned an enemy to his own children and subjected them to poor upbringing, “an act that should be cursed.”

The prosecution told the court that Juma committed the offence on March 13, 2012, knowing that the act was an offence he exposed two of the four children’s mouths to fire. 

They are Malick Jaribu (5) and Ibrahim Jaribu (10) accusing them of consuming groundnuts handed to them for selling.

Prior to reading the sentence the charged Juma caused a chaotic situation in the courtroom as he refused to enter the dock and instead he stuck himself to the floor, compelling police officers to drag him to the dock. 

He also pleaded to the court to be sympathetic to him because he had a family to look after which he has been with it for four years.

“Honourable magistrate, it was intentional that is why I pleaded guilty but I cannot say more. Let the court pass its sentence so that it becomes a lesson for me and others.” 

 SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN (23/03/2013): http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/index.php?l=52668