“Shosh yangu alinitoa macho akaiweka kwa bakuli,”Three-Year-Old Describes Horrific Eye Gouging Incident

Three Years old Baby Sagini who was bruttally attacked in Kisii and lost his eyes has appeared in court to testify in the case against his attackers .The pretrial case is set for March , with Sagini having been under state protection.

During the hearing , Sagini appeared via camera and described the people he lives withand their relationship to him.He fidgeted as his caretaker encouraged him to talk and a woman was asked by the judge to help him identify the people who gouged his eyes .

The short clip of Sagini testifying has horrified TV audiences , and the boy has been under witness protection since the attack . Mike Sonko tried to take him for eye surgery , that’s when it was revealed he was under state protection.

Baby Sagini, the three-year-old boy whose eyes were gouged out in a brutal attack that shocked the nation last December, has told a Kisii court that it is his grandmother Rael Nyakerario Mayaka that committed the heinous act.

Sagini, who is currently under state protection, was giving his testimony Friday before Senior Resident Magistrate Christine Ogweno of the Kisii Law Courts.

He and his sister Shantel Kemunto were testifying virtually. They were with their caregiver Josephine Karimi, who is looking after the two from an undisclosed location. 

When his lawyer, Ms Anita Nduhukire, asked Sagini to tell her who Ms Mayaka was, the minor said he does not want to hear about her.

“Yule alinitoa macho, sitaki kuongea kumhusu (She’s the one who removed my eyes, I don’t want to talk about her),” Sagini said then refused to take any more questions from the lawyer. 

Later on, Shantel told the court how she and her brother were sent to fetch water from a nearby spring by their grandmother, when her brother went missing. Sagini was found dumped in a maize farm the following day with his eyes gouged out.

Traumatised 

For her part, Ms Karimi, who is a social worker, told the court that she took in the two children in December for psychosocial support and care as they awaited hearing of the case.

She testified that when she received them, they were both traumatised, but that Sagini was more disturbed and would throw tantrums. 

“He 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.

One of Sagini’s aunts, Mary Kemunto Makori, who was among relatives that were called after he was discovered, also testified in court today. 

The prosecution has three more witnesses that it will line up before the court. One is under state protection and will testify on March 24, 2023. The other two are the arresting and investigating officers, who will be in court next week on Friday, March 17.

Two more suspects are being held for causing grievous harm to Sagini. They are Ms Pacificah Nyakerario (aunt) and Mr Alex Maina Ochogo (cousin). They have denied the charges.