A trending case in which a Chinese national is accused of killing a fellow compatriot, and then proceeding to severely injure his compatriot’s spouse has failed to be handled by the High Court in Narok for lack of a translator.
The case was poised to be handled by the Narok resident judge, Justice Justus Bwonwong’a.
Unfortunately, an adjournment was applied by Zachary Omwega, who is the senior assistant director in the department of public prosecutions.
Case in point, the court had no interpreter to translate the proceedings for the suspect who could only communicate in Mandarin, Li Chanquing.
Nevertheless, Omwega informed the court that they were waiting on information from the other translator, who at the moment was held up with pressing matters in Nairobi.
His request was granted and thus, the case is expected to be heard on February 18 and 19.
The suspect, 45-year-old Chanquing, is charged with the murder in cold blood of Jinli Liu, while the two were touring the Maasai Mara National Game Reserve at the Keekorok Lodge.
He is also facing serious charges of causing severe harm to Liu’s husband, Yi Dong, 47 on that fateful day.
It is believed that the suspect proceeded to stab the Chinese couple after disagreeing with them on the seating arrangement.
The suspect, who has denied committing the offence, is currently out on a Kshs 1 million bond and has been forced to deposit his passport at the court.
If found guilty, the accused faces the death penalty.