Rally Driver Maxine Wahome Accused Of Assaulting Boyfriend Released

World Rally Championship (WRC) Safari Rally driver Maxine Wahome has been released on a Ksh100,000 cash bail.

The top female rally driver spent two nights behind bars for allegedly assaulting her boyfriend Asad Khan, who was earlier reported to be in hospital under critical condition.

Senior principal magistrate Bernard Ochoi on Wednesday, December 14 declined to allow an application by the police to detain her for 14 days pending charges related to grievous bodily harm on Asad.

On Tuesday, December 13, Wahome’s lawyers appealed to the court to have the media gagged from covering the case, stating that she was the victim of the assault and not the aggressor.

A ventilator at an ICU unit. /DAILY NATION

On declining the application by the state to hold her for two weeks, Ochoi explained that there were no compelling reasons to detain the suspect in police custody.

Police had sought to detain her explaining that Khan is still unconscious and in critical condition at the high dependency unit (HDU).

She however ordered Wahome to appear before the investigating officer at Kilimani Police station every Thursday until the investigations are completed on January 16, 2023.

The court was told that the man sustained a deep cut on his ankle that was allegedly inflicted by the woman.

An investigating officer revealed to the court that Wahome was arrested on December 12, 2022 at an apartment in Kilimani after the boyfriend’s brother made a report of an assault to the police. During the arrest, police discovered a lot of blood in the house and broken glass.

However, the rally driver defended, through her lawyers, by stating that she is a victim and claimed that the man hurt himself when he was attacking her.

Wahome made history in June this year by becoming the first female to win the WRC3 at the age of 26.

The case notably adds to a long list of incidences involving marital quarrels between Kenyan sportsmen and their lovers/spouses.

Athletes have in the past appealed to the government to come up with measures to ensure that the culprits responsible for the violence were brought to book.

An image of a crime scene. /FILE