Updated Wed, August 10th 2016 at 08:00 GMT +3Nairobi, Kenya: It is not illegal for cousins to marry or engage in sex, the High Court has ruled even though relationships between cousins are acceptable in some communities and taboo in others. "This means it is permissible to have sex with a cousin," the judge ruled. The girl's mother testified that the accused was the girl's paternal cousin but the court found that the trial court erred in finding that he was guilty of incest. "My understanding of the said section (Section 20(1) of the Sexual Offences Act) is that if any sexual act takes place between two cousins, that does not amount to incest within the meaning of the provisions of the Sexual Offences Act." High Court judge James Makau, in an appeal where a man was contesting a conviction of alleged incest with a cousin by the Magistrates Court, found that the Sexual Offences Act does not mention cousin among the list of relatives under the offence of incest.

Source: Standard Digital August 10, 2016 04:52 UTC