Renewed hope for baby amid China eye plan

The three-year-old boy who was abducted last week and later found with his eyes gouged out will be taken to China for specialised treatment.

Baby Sagini is today expected to be assessed by an eye specialist at Westlands Laser Eye Hospital before being flown to Dennis Lam Eye Hospital in South China for implants.

The implants, according to Chinese doctors, are expected to help the victim with navigation sensors to allow him to get around on his own in familiar places.

They, however, do not restore vision.

In one of the cases in 2013, a six-year-old boy whose eyes had also been gouged out also received eye implants in the same Chinese hospital.

Meanwhile, a middle-aged woman was yesterday arraigned in court in connection with the brutal attack in Marani Sub-county, Kisii County.

Arrested in city

Pacifica Nyakerario — who was arrested in Kasarani, Nairobi on Monday — appeared before Kisii Court Senior Resident Magistrate Christine Ogweno.

The magistrate ordered that she be detained at Rioma Police Station for four days to allow investigators to complete their work.

“I direct the officer commanding Rioma Police Station to ensure the safety of the suspect,” the magistrate said.

The suspect, who raised no objection to the detention, wept in court, maintaining that she was not aware of what happened.

Prosecutor Hilary Kaino told the court that Nyakerario, who is the mother of suspect Alex Maina Ochogo. She is the key suspect in the case, and was the last person seen with baby Sagini before she travelled to Nairobi.

Kisii County Governor Simba Arati said the CS told him to organise for the two to be ferried to Nairobi for their safety.

“We have reports that she was being defiled. The national government will treat and protect them,” Arati said at Gusii Stadium during a farewell ceremony for the County Secretary, Patrick Lumumba.

The governor urged former County Executive Committee members and chief officers to be advocates of the rights of children. He said the County Government will consult former officers to share their experiences to benefit the county.

Safe house

Already, the Public Service, Affirmative Action and Gender Cabinet Secretary Aisha Jumwa has found a safe house for Sagini and his sibling, Shantel Kemunto, in Nairobi.

Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko on Monday night said he had conducted research and found that there is a hospital in Shenzen, South China, Dennis Lam Eye Hospital, which does implants.

“However, after contacting the hospital, we were advised that Baby Sagini must have a referral from at least two Kenyan hospitals. We went ahead and booked an appointment for him to be reviewed at Westlands Laser Eye Hospital, where doctors will attend to him,” Sonko said.

The local Member of Parliament and the Kisii County Government are expected to facilitate how the victim will be brought to Nairobi for assessment by ophthalmologists and eye specialists.

Sonko further said that he would engage the Nairobi County Government to recommend eye specialists from Mbagathi Hospital to also do a separate review of baby Sagini and, thereafter, forward the two reports to China.

When she was arraigned in court yesterday, Nyakerario said she travelled long before the incident to see her children in the city and left everything well at home.

She agreed to be detained and said she would cooperate with detectives as they conclude the investigations. 

The woman and her son are expected to be charged on December 23, depending on the outcome of the investigations.

Meanwhile, Sagini’s father was also arrested and detained at Rioma police station as sleuths conclude investigations over claims that he defiled Sagini’s elder sister. The father has emotionally defended himself, saying that on that fateful day, he went home only to be informed that the son was missing.

The following day, the boy was found badly injured in his uncle’s shamba.