Baby Sagini’s grandmother Rael Nyakerario, his cousin Alex Ochongo and aunt Pacificah Nyakerario were found guilty of gouging out his eyes in December last year.
The three are now set for sentencing in a potential long-running jail term. Kisii Law Courts Senior Resident Magistrate Christine Ogweno who delivered the judgment on Friday, said the three suspects were found culpable of the gruesome offense.
“Upon considering the evidence tendered by the prosecution as well as that of the defense, I am persuaded that the prosecution has proven beyond a reasonable doubt, the charges against each of the accused persons,’” Ongweno said in an open court.
The ruling
She said that the attack on the baby was completely unthinkable considering the kind of torture, pain and gruesome ordeal baby Sagini was subjected to.
“Evidence adduced throughout show a consistent pattern of a child growing in an abusive environment where he was brutally denied basic rights to survival as should any normal child.”
She said.
The magistrate convicted the three for causing grievous harm to minor contrary to Section 234 of the penal code and Section 215 of the criminal procedure code.
Ongweno said; “Baby Sagini is a child, his eyes were removed in a scandalous manner. It was done by family members who were supposed to offer him shelter. It was done by a cousin and an aunt behind the grandmother’s muddy house. He was placed in a sack and presumed dead.”
the court speaks
“What kind of torture is this? He will never have a chance to see them again. He will never have a chance to appreciate the colours like any other human being. And he will never be able to see the faces of any other friend.” Added an emotional Ongweno.
“He needs to learn how to walk again without vision and adapt to a new life. There is so much he will never see again. One wonders again, what kind of people are these; putting a child in a sack then they go out to celebrate and dance over alcohol.”
During a virtual cross-examination in March, Sagini said that his grandmother gouged out his eyes using her hands and dumped him at a maize plantation.
Ongweno added; “It is savage, brutal and inhuman. Everyone in society has a duty to ensure that a child lives. These people had a hand in the act.”
Evidence provided by 12 witnesses, in the case, formed a chain of circumstances that pointed directly to the guilt of the three accused persons.
By Wanjiru Mbaru