Top female safari rally driver Maxine Wahome has been released from police custody on Sh100,000 cash bail after spending two nights behind bars for allegedly assaulting her boyfriend Asad Khan.
Magistrate Benard Ochoi declined to allow an application by the police to detain her for 14 days pending being charged with grievous harm to Asad Khan.
The court also declined to gag the media from covering the case saying the claims that she is a victim have not been proven.
On Tuesday, Wahome’s lawyers had asked the court to gag the media from covering the case saying she is the victim and not the aggressor.
Ochoi dismissed the application by the state to detain her for two weeks saying there were no compelling reasons to detain the suspect in police custody.
Ochoi ordered her to appear before the investigating officer at Kilimani Police station every Thursday until the investigations are over.
The police were asking the court to detain her for 14 days saying Khan is still unconscious and in critical condition at the high-dependency unit.
He told the court that the man sustained a deep cut on his ankle that was allegedly inflicted by the woman.
The investigating officer told the court she was arrested Thursday at their apartment after the boyfriend’s brother made a report of an assault to the police.
The court heard that during the arrest, the police found a lot of blood in the house and broken glasses.
However, through her lawyers, Wahome said she is a victim and claimed that the man hurt himself when he was attacking her.
His lawyer told the court that until investigations are over no one really knows who the victim is in this case since the intended complainant is still unconscious and he can’t record a statement.
Meanwhile, Mr Khan’s friends have asked members of the public to donate blood as he remains admitted at an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) ward of the city hospital.
Preliminary reports indicate that Khan sustained a deep cut in his ankle during the incident.
Ms Wahome is a fast-rising rally driver who in June was voted the LG/SJAK Sports Personality of the month.
The trailblazing driver achieved the feat after becoming the first-ever African woman to win the WRC3 Category during the WRC Safari Rally that same month.
Ms Wahome’s winning performance was made all the more impressive by the fact she had never driven a Ford Fiesta Rally3 car on gravel before the fabled Kenyan fixture.
Success shot the 26-year-old to not only national limelight but global fame, with her achievements being recognized by none other than seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton.
