A man arrested for allegedly gouging out the eyes of a three-year-old boy in Kisii will be detained for five days pending investigations.
Alex Ochogo, 26, appeared before senior resident magistrate Christine Ogweno at Kisii law court on Monday.
Police successfully sought to have him detained for five days over investigations into the gouging out of baby Junior Sagini's eyes at Ikuruma village in Marani subcounty, Kisii.
Prosecutor Hilary Kaino made the miscellaneous application to enable them arrest more suspects including Ochogo's mother who is the main suspect.
Kaino told the court that Ochogo was seen escorting his mother to a bus station, who then fled to Nairobi on the day baby Sagini was found in a maize plantation.
Police are investigating a case of attempted murder.
“The main suspect was the last person seen with this child in the evening, hours before he disappeared. The following morning this suspect left to Nairobi,” Kaino told the court.
The prosecutor told the court that holding the suspect in custody will guarantee his safety against harm by members of the public.
Advocates Daphine Biyaki and Nduhukire Anita who were watching the brief for baby Sagini, agreed with the prosecutor’s application to detain the suspect for five days.
Ogweno ruled that the suspect will be detained at Rioma police station for five days as the police conclude investigations.
“The suspect will be arraigned in the same court on December 23 to know his fate as the court gives directions,” the magistrate said.
Baby Sagini’s mother was also arrested on Sunday and booked at Nyanchwa police station under OB NO 13/18/12/2022.
She was locked at the court’s police cells and later driven away by DCI officers the moment Ochogo appeared in court.
Baby Sagini who is admitted at Kisii Eye hospital in an early interview said a man with a rope and a torch took him from their home compound where he was playing with other kids.
Sagini’s eye specialist Dr Dan Kiage said the boy is in a stable condition however, there is no way he will regain his eyesight.
Police said Ochogo and his mother Pacifica are suspected to have gouged out Sagini's eyes to be used as ritual for Ochogo's father.
It is alleged that the two conspired in December 2021 and killed Ochogo's father.
