NYAHURURU, Kenya, Mar 19 - Scores of Laikipia University College students on Friday thronged a local courtroom to hear a sodomy case against their colleague, prompting police to intensify security around the court premises.

The students caused a stir when they entered the courtroom where Senior Resident Magistrate Alice Mong’are was presiding, prompting her to adjourn the case to enable the police to call for reinforcements.

“These students are intimidating witnesses and we need more officers to provide security for the witnesses and the court. We adjourn the matter until this afternoon,” she said forcing the students to leave the stuffy courtroom in droves.

The students had attended the court to hear a case in which George Kimani has denied defiling and sodomising a minor inside a room at Ewaso Nyiro Hostels at the Laikipia main campus.

Mr Kimani who is a third year Kiswahili student also denied that he indecently assaulted the girl, stealing her mobile phone worth Sh15,000 and Sh1,800 in cash.

The court directed that all witnesses be securely kept at an undisclosed location within the court premises before the main witness was escorted to the magistrate’s chambers to testify.

In her testimony, the minor narrated how the accused forcefully defiled and then sodomised her severally.

The court heard that the girl, aged 17 years, had been lured to the hostel by the accused who claimed his wife would accommodate her for the night since travelling to Nyahururu at night was dangerous.

The two had met in a matatu in Eldoret and sat next to each other while headed to Nyahururu via Nakuru.  The girl was going home, while the accused was headed back to the college which is situated roughly 10 kilometres before Nyahururu town.

“He said it was risky and that his cousin had been killed in a carjacking incident. He kept instilling fear in me and I opted to spend the night after we talked to his wife. He bought me chips while he took beer,” she said.

Later, the accused led the girl to a room that had no latch from inside but only from the outside which the accused locked and left. He later returned and raped the girl.

When she found her way back to the chip’s shop, she narrated her ordeal and it was then that she was told she was at the Laikipia University College main campus and not Subukia.  She got a further rude shock when she learnt that the suspect had lied his name was Peter Njenga which could not be traced in the students’ register.

Security officers at the university visited the room and found another student who came in at 5am in deep slumber.

The witness denied claims by lawyer Joel Sigilai that other students had raped her saying she had identified the accused as there was light in the room and the other student came in at 5am and immediately fell asleep without touching her.

The accused was denied bail and will remain in custody until April 24 when the hearing resumes.