A 60-year-old grandmother has been arrested by police in Nakuru County over the torturing of her two grandsons for allegedly stealing Sh1,500.
The woman is said to have accused the boys aged, 11 and 8 years, of taking her chama money. She then used a hot iron rod to burn them in an attempt to get a confession out of them. She later locked them in the house.
The grandmother allegedly conspired with her son –the boys’ step-father – to “teach them a lesson”. The boys suffered burn injuries on the hands and legs.
The victims were allegedly pinned down by their step-father as their grandmother heated an iron rod before pressing it against their hands and legs.
According to Mau Summit Sub-location Chief, Kevin Brown Bett, the family hid the incident from the authorities to avoid arrest. However, a relative reported the incident a week later, bringing to light the incident.
Mr Bett said that after getting wind of the information, the boys’ maternal grandmother reported the matter at Masaideni police station in Kuresoi North Sub-county.
The two boys were then taken to hospital for treatment before and the grandmother who allegedly tortured them was immediately arrested.
“The family lives in the same compound. The incident happened over a week ago but we got to know about it on Tuesday. The father is still at large. Even if they had stolen the money that is not the right way to punish children,” Mr Bett said.
Mr Bett urged parents to avoid taking their frustrations out on innocent children and instead solve them amicably.
This incident has once again brought the issue of increasing child abuse within families into the spotlight, coming as it does barely two months after another child was brutally assaulted by her parents in the same region.
She was allegedly stripped naked, both her hands were tied, and then she was assaulted. The minor was then locked inside the house before she was rescued by neighbours and taken to hospital. The mother was arrested and handed her over to the police while her step-father escaped.
