Sharon’s father overcome with emotion as photos of foetus displayed in court
Photographs of Sharon Otieno’s unborn baby were yesterday displayed in court in the trial of Migori Governor Okoth Obado who is accused of her murder.
Sharon’s father was overcome with grief and broke down in court while watching the photos of the foetus displayed on the big screen.
“The baby was pale due to the loss of blood because it was bleeding… the intestines were also out,” explained Dr Samson Wanjala who was testifying in the case.
DNA results confirmed that Obado was the father of the unborn baby. The Governor sat quietly in the dock, occasionally looking at the pictures.
Survival chance
Obado was charged in 2018 alongside his personal assistant Michael Oyamo and Casper Obiero, a clerk at the Migori county government, with the murder of the Rongo University student and her unborn baby.
“Having gone through the overall picture of the scenario, Baby Sharon had no chance of survival,” the doctor said.
Justice Cecilia Githua heard that the foetus was 28 weeks old when it was brutally murdered alongside its mother.
“How is a 28 weeks old foetus?” asked the prosecution counsel Catherine Mwaniki.
“It is a normal human being with all the features of an adult person. It has a normal functioning heart, kidney, liver, lungs, pancreas and all the normal functions are present,” replied the witness.
The court heard that the foetus was never given a chance to survive, given the environment where Sharon died and the injuries the baby sustained.
“If Sharon had died and there was medical intervention, would the baby have survived?” asked the prosecutor.
The doctor responded that the baby would have had 20 per cent survival rate given the injuries it sustained.
“Probably the setting of the situation in this case was never meant to give baby Sharon a chance,” said the doctor.
During the cross examination, the doctor was asked why he concluded that injuries on Sharon’s body were directed at major blood vessels. He responded that they were in the neck and the thigh.
Stab wounds
Chief pathologist Johansen Oduor, who conducted the autopsy on the two bodies, had testified on September 8, 2018 that Sharon had sustained at least seven stab wounds and two slash wounds on different parts of her body.
A copy of the post-mortem document showed the body had stab wounds on the left lower abdomen, mid-back, right lower back, left lower back, at the midline and the lower mid-back.
Another witness, County Secretary of Migori Christopher Odhiambo Rusana, confirmed that Obiero and Oyamo were employees of the county government.
So far, over 15 witnesses have testified in the case. The case will proceed on March 22.
