Baby Sagini: Court to hold final hearing at his granny’s home
Ms Rael Nyakerario Mayaka, the grandmother of Baby Sagini (inset).
The final court hearing of Baby Junior Sagini's case will now be conducted at his grandmother's home in Ikuruma village, Marani, in Kisii County on March 24.
After listening to testimonies from Baby Sagini, his sister Shantel Kemunto and three others on Friday last week, the prosecution will call more witnesses to give their accounts of the brutal attack that left the child blind after his eyes were gouged out.
In his testimony last week, young Sagini implicated his grandmother Rael Nyakerario Mayaka as the one who attacked him using an unknown object.
The remaining two witnesses are the Marani DCIO and another person who is under state protection.
The DCIO was scheduled to testify today (Friday) but he objected to doing so in the full glare of cameras for fear of his life.
Prosecutor Hilary Kaino told the court that the officer was handling other sensitive matters and therefore he would not be comfortable if exposed.
The matters, according to Mr Kaino, are inquiries into the death of four elderly mothers who were lynched on accusations of practising witchcraft a few years ago.
While giving the directions, Senior Resident Magistrate Christine Ogweno of the Kisii Law Courts tasked the Marani DCIO to ensure adequate security during the session as the DCIO and the state-protected witness give their submissions.
"It is hereby ordered that the next session be held at Ikuruma village. The DCIO is supposed to prepare well for this and ensure there is adequate security," the Magistrate said.
Earlier on, another officer told the court that the maize crops on a farm where Baby Sagini was dumped had been cleared, days after the horror attack.
Inspector John Ng'eno, a detective based in Kisii and specialised in crime scene investigations, said that on January 5, this year, upon request from Marani DCIO, he visited the crime scene and on arrival, he took 11 photos from different spots.
He took pictures of where Baby Sagini was found, the general view of his grandma’s compound and the spring where the victim was allegedly sent to fetch water for domestic use.
On Friday morning, the court was told how Ms Pacificah Nyakerario, the second accused person in the Baby Sagini case was on the verge of being lynched at Kilomita Moja area, near Kenyatta University's main campus in Nairobi before police rescued her.
Chief Inspector Godhard Mburu, who led his other colleagues in tracing Ms Pacificah's whereabouts, said he was tasked to trace her on December 19, 2022, after she went into hiding immediately after Baby Sagini was brutally attacked and his eyes gouged out.
Ms Pacificah is an aunt to the victim. The sleuth who is based at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters in Nairobi, while appearing before Ms Ogweno, said the suspect was hiding in her daughter’s house according to intelligence reports they received.
They then proceeded to Kilomita Moja and while figuring out their next move, they heard of a commotion at Kiwanja Police Post.
On rushing there, they found out that the physical appearance of the person who was being harassed resembled the one whose photographs had gone viral on social media.
“She had been arrested by members of the public and frog-marched there. Officers at Kiwanja Police Post re-arrested and booked her there. They then handed her to us and we drove her to Kisii where she was wanted," Inspector Mburu said.
