Three men accused of stripping and robbing a female passenger in a Githurai-bound bus in December 2014 have been sentenced to death.

Bus driver Nicholas Mwangi, conductor Meshack Mwangi and petrol station attendant Edward Ndung’u were found guilty of robbery with violence and assault by Nairobi Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi.

The magistrate handed them another sentence of 25 years in jail for stripping and sexually assaulting the woman. But the jail term was suspended as the trio had already been handed the death penalty.

SENSELESS

In the judgement, the magistrate ruled that the accused took part in a "senseless and uncouth act that they seemed to enjoy because they were cheering as they stripped the woman."

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

She said the video recording was only 59 seconds long but the incident lasted longer.

VIDEO

The three had been charged with robbery with violence and assault.

The charges against them state that on the night of September 19 and 20 at Millenium petrol station in Githurai 44, jointly with others, they robbed a woman identified as H E W (to protect her identity) of Sh10,200, a Samsung Galaxy mobile phone worth Sh27,000, one bottle of perfume, a clutch bag and a make-up kit all amounting to Sh41,700.

They further faced a charge of sexually assaulting the victim in the incident that caused an uproar after a video clip of the act was circulated on social media.