A Kenyan court has sentenced a 44-year-old Chinese national to 10 years’ imprisonment after finding him guilty of committing an indecent act against a 17-year-old girl aboard a flight to Nairobi.
Delivering the ruling at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport court, Senior Principal Magistrate Njeri Thuku said the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt against the accused, Li Jianjun.
“Li is sentenced to 10 years in prison. The time starts to run from the date of his arrest, and upon completion of his prison term, Li is to be repatriated back to his country by the Immigration Department,” ruled Thuku.
The court heard that the offence occurred on December 7, 2025, on board a China Southern Airlines flight that had departed from China to Kenya.
According to testimony presented in court, the 17-year-old victim was travelling from Changsha to attend a United Nations conference in Kenya. She was seated in the middle seat, while the accused occupied the aisle seat next to her.
In her evidence, the minor told the court that at around 4:00 a.m., while she was asleep, she felt someone touching her leg over her clothes before the situation escalated.
“He touched my private parts, opened the zip of my trousers, and put his hand inside,” she testified.
The prosecution, led by Allen Mulama and Mercy Katsivo, presented documentary evidence, including a photocopy of the victim’s passport, confirming she was born in December 2008 and was 17 years old at the time of the incident.
In his defence, Li denied the allegations, attributing the incident to the cramped seating conditions on the aircraft. He told the court that he had been squashed due to limited space and maintained that he had been asleep during the flight.
“I have considered Li’s defence as well as the submission. He blamed the tight space of the seats in the plane and said he felt squashed. It was also in his defence that he slept during the flight and denied touching anyone inappropriately,” Thuku said.
However, the magistrate dismissed the defence, finding it inconsistent and unconvincing when weighed against the victim’s detailed and coherent testimony.
The court further observed that the minor remained visibly traumatized by the incident but gave her testimony with clarity, even while appearing via video link.
Li Jianjun had travelled to Kenya to repair machinery at a shoe factory and had boarded the flight from China on the evening of December 6, 2025, after checking in shortly after midnight.
The case was prosecuted by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, which successfully secured the conviction.
Upon completion of his sentence, the court directed that Li be repatriated to China by immigration authorities.
The ruling underscores Kenya’s firm stance on sexual offences involving minors, with courts emphasizing strict penalties regardless of the circumstances under which such crimes are commited.