Baby Brighton Sagini, the three-year-old boy whose eyes were gouged out in a cruel attack last December, told a Kisii court on Friday that it was his grandmother who was behind the beastly act.
Baby Sagini, while testifying before Senior Kisii Resident Magistrate Christine Ogweno, said his grandmother Rael Nyakerario hit him on the head before gouging out his eyes.
“Ni Nyakerario bhabha ndiye alinipiga kichwa hapa alafu akanitoa macho (It’s my grandmother Nyakerario who hit me on the heading before gouging out my eyes),” Baby Sagini told the court.
The baby, who is under state protection together with his sister, said that his grandmother gouged out his eyes using her hands and later dumped him at a maize plantation at their home in Ikuruma village, Marani sub-county.
The sister Shantel Kemunto narrated to the court that the incident occurred on December 13, 2022.
On the fateful day, the sister told the court that they had gone to the river to fetch water as usual, but Sagini did not turn up since he lost his water jerrican.
The boy would later be found dumped in a maize plantation the following day after missing for hours. The boy was rushed to the Kisii Eye Hospital where doctors determined that his sight was permanently damaged.
Baby Sagini and his sister testified virtually.
They were in the company of their caregiver Josephine Karimi who narrated to the court the progress the two children had made since being rescued from their home in Kisii.
“He (Sagini) could only speak in Ekegusii but through our support, he now speaks some good Swahili. Sagini and his sister looked like they were in a violent environment from some of the behaviour that we witnessed in them,” Ms Karimi said.
“At first, they used to overfeed and this shows that they were not being fed well,” she added.
Sagini’s grandmother and two other suspects including Alex Ochogo and Pacificah Nyakerario (Sagini’s aunt) are facing charges of causing grievous harm to the minor. They have denied the charges.
The prosecution has three more witnesses lined up to testify in the case.
