Ibrahim Kipkemboi Rotich, the ex-boyfriend to Agnes Tirop has denied murdering the athlete.
Rotich, 41, on Tuesday appeared before Justice Reuben Nyakundi and denied killing Tirop on October 12 at Rural Estate in Iten town.
"It's not true your honour," said Rotich when the charge was read out to him. Through his lawyer, Ngige Ngugi, Rotich indicated that he would apply to be released on bond as the case continues.
However, State Counsel David Fedha said they had already filed an affidavit to oppose the application for bond. Justice Nyakundi directed that the matter be mentioned on December 1, 2021, for further directions. The court had last week ordered that Rotich undergoes a medical assessment at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital before being charged.
In their application, they said they had laid down reasons warranting the denial of bail, including that the accused is a flight risk. Justice Nyakundi directed that the defence files a reply to the affidavit filed by the prosecution and that a pre-bail report be prepared in 14 days. Tirop’s father Vincent Tirop as well as Rotich’s siblings were present during the plea-taking session.
Rotich had earlier been arraigned at the law courts in Iten, where the miscellaneous file which allowed the DCI to conduct further investigations was closed. The prosecution told the court they had overwhelming evidence connecting Rotich to his lover’s death. Justice Nyakundi directed that Rotich be remanded in Eldoret GK Prison. Rotich was arrested at a police roadblock at Chaani in Changamwe, about six kilometres from Mombasa.
He was later found fit to stand trial. Tirop was on October 13 found dead in her house in Iten where she lived with Rotich as her boyfriend. A postmortem on the body revealed that she died after being stabbed in the neck and being hit by a blunt object in the head.
She was born to a peasant farming; Tirop launched her athletics career less than a decade ago but swiftly ran up a host of second-place finishes in national and international cross country races.
She went on to become one of Kenya’s rising stars; as the 2015 world cross-country champion, a two-time world medallist over 10000m, and came forth over 5000m at the Tokyo Olympics this year.