Baby Sagini: Police Arrest Aunt Who Fled To Nairobi

Police in Nairobi on Monday evening, December 19 arrested Pacifica Nyakerario, a 60-year-old woman, linked to the gruesome torture of three-year-old Baby Sagini.

The woman, who is the mother to another main suspect, 26-year-old Alex Maina Ochogo, was said to have left the village on the day the child was found dumped in a maize plantation with his eyes gouged out.

Following the arrest of Baby Sagini's mother and cousin, detectives in Kisii launched a manhunt for Pacifica, whom Ochogo had escorted to board a bus to Nairobi immediately after they reportedly injured the minor.

Pacifica was said to have sought refuge in the city, according to the prosecutor who presented the case at a magistrates court in Kisii. On the day before the incident, both Ochogo and his mother were said to have spent time together at home.

Kisii Governor Simba Arati visits Junior Sagini at the Kisii Eye Hospital on December 18, 2022. /DAILY NATION

“These were the people who were last seen in the victim's company. The skeleton file indicates that Ochogo was in touch with the main suspect. 

"Preliminary investigations lead to the charges of the suspect being an accomplice or part of the people to be charged as main key suspects,” the prosecutor revealed.

Ochogo was arraigned before Senior Resident Magistrate Christine Ogweno ordered the police to detain him at Rioma Police station. He will appear for plea-taking in court on December 23, 2022. 

Police investigators had earlier revealed that Ochogo and the mother gouged out Sagini’s eyes for ritual purposes, noting that the two had plotted to kill Baby Sagini's father in a previous incident in December 2021.

Prosecutor Hilary Kaino made the miscellaneous application to detain the suspect for five days to enable the police to conclude investigations and also arrest more suspects including the mother of Ochogo.

Ochogo will face attempted murder while the boy’s mother, Maureen Nyaboke, faces child neglect. Nyaboke is said to have separated from her husband over abuse.

The boy encountered a man with a rod and a torch according to his recollection of moments leading to the torturous ordeal. He described his attacker, albeit with scanty details, as detectives stepped up efforts to identify the mysterious man as doctors attending to the minor discharged him.

Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) interviewed Sagini’s close family members in the preliminary stages of the probe. Baby Sagini who was said to be playing outside his grandmother’s house was reportedly snatched by the assailant at 6 pm.

He was in the company of other children fetching water when he strayed away, only to be found by his elder brother, who was cutting grass near the scene, writhing in pain the following day.