Justice at last for baby Junior Sagini as court jail culprits up to 40 years
Baby Junior Sagini now aged four years whose eyes were brutally gouged out by close relatives last December, has found justice after a Kisii court sentenced his cousin and prime suspect Alex Maina Ochogo, to 40 years in prison.
Kisii Senior Resident Magistrate Christine Ogweno also handed the second and third accused, Pacifica Nyakerario and Rael Mayaka, who are the victim’s aunt and grandmother respectively, ten and five years’ jail terms respectively.
While delivering the judgement yesterday, the magistrate said the court, apart from age, considered the perpetrators’ roles in the heinous crime which left the innocent minor permanently blind.
“The court takes into account the role played by each of the three perpetrators. The minor lost his eyes and sight at the hands of his cousin, Alex Maina Ochogo, the first accused in this case. I cannot find any mitigating circumstances on his part.” Ogweno said.
She added that the other two co-accused were accomplices who played a limited role in the crime, a fact that the court had also taken into consideration.
“The attitude of the community and the pre-sentence report remain unfavourable to Nyakerario. The case is different for Mayaka who took care of the victim and his sister while their mother struggled to make ends meet away from home.” Judge Ogweno said, adding that before the attack, baby Sagini lived a relatively normal life under the care of his grandmother.
The judge continued to say that courts needed to hand such inhuman crimes appropriate sentences in order to discourage them, implying that her sentence was deterrent.
“Gouged out without provocation, without good reason, at the hands of family members. Surely such a heinous act calls for a deterrent sentence.” Judge Ogweno said.
