Seven suspects have been arrested in Chepalungu Sub-County in Bomet County for allegedly recording and circulating a video of a group of boys raping an identified woman.
A police statement seen by The Kenya Times indicated that the suspects were arrested for the circulation of a pornography video.
Further, the statement detailed that the men were cornered after a manhunt by the police in collaboration with the area chief and Nyumba Kumi elders.
According to the statement, the authorities positively identified two of the men as Anderson Mutai aged 38-, and 21-year-old Weldon Sigei.
“Following the circulation of pornography video purported to have taken place at Chebanyiny village of Kimaya sub location about 3kilometers west of the station.”
“Police officers together with area chief and nyumba kumi elders conducted the operation at the said area and managed to arrest seven suspects among them two have been identified,” the police statement read in part.
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Police Statement on the Video Circulated by the Seven Suspects
Bomet County Police Commander Robinson Ndiwa revealed that the video was recorded in 2023 and released to different social media platforms on April 10, 2024.
Also, Ndiwa said that the woman on the recording had not yet been identified. The group of men has since been named the ‘Sigor Boys’ by users online.
At the same time, area chief Edwin Barusei added that the main suspect, Anderson Mutai was the host of the recorded video.
“The matter was not reported to us. We are doing all we can to process the whole thing. The law doesn’t allow such content to be distributed or displayed anywhere.”
“The suspects have been placed in police custody for interrogation and miscellaneous application to enhance further investigation,” the officer said.
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Kenyan Law on Circulation of Pornography
The ICT Ministry in 2018 announced the introduction of a law to punish anyone involved in creating, distributing and using children in pornographic content with a jail term of up to 25 years.
In the revised Computer and Cybercrimes Bill 2017, an offender is liable to a 25-year jail sentence or a Ksh20 Million fine.
At the same time in 2021, Defence Cabinet Secretary Adan Duale, then a member of parliament, proposed the amendment of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act to make it illegal for anyone to publish pornography through a computer system.
The bill outlawed the production, distribution, transmission, sale or offer for sale of any pornographic material as well as possession of the same in a computer system.
In the proposed law, pornography was treated as any data, visual or audio, that depicts persons engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
