Kipruto hauled on rape charges

Emmanuel Masinde and Lynette Matheka

Reigning Olympic and two-time world 3,000m steeplechase champion Conseslus Kipruto was yesterday arraigned in Kapsabet Law Courts over alleged defilement.

However, he denied the charges and was released on a Sh200,000 cash bail and a surety of similar amount. 

 Wearing a red hoodie, Kipruto presented himself before Principal Magistrate David Ocharo facing two counts of defiling and engaging in indecent acts with a child.

 It is claimed that between October 20 and October 21 at Tironin village in Mutwot, Nandi County, Kipruto defiled a girl aged 15 contrary to the Sexual Offences Act of 2016.

 On October 30, police in Nandi County launched a hunt for Kipruto, a policeman himself, after he was accused by the teenager’s parents of eloping with their Form Two daughter.

The girl’s parents allege that their daughter went missing from home three days before the police report was made and their interrogations, upon her return, revealed she was putting up at the athlete’s home in Chesumei.

 The girl allegedly had refused to disclose where she had been but upon an examination of her phone log, the parents discovered that she had been in constant communication with Kipruto.

It was then that the teenager allegedly disclosed that she had been putting up at the athlete’s home prompting the parents to make a report at Mosoriot Police Post, alleging their daughter had been defiled.

Ocharo directed that the case comes up for hearing on May 10, 2021. 

 After a notable junior career, Kipruto seamlessly took the mantle from Ezekiel Kemboi in the distance winning gold at the 2016 Olympics Games in Rio. He has also dominated in the world championships taking gold in London and Doha in 2017 and 2019 respectively.