Baby Sagini case reveals deep family feud
Ms Rael Nyakerario Mayaka, the grandmother of Baby Sagini (inset).
A Kisii Court hearing the gouging out of Baby Junior Sagini’s eyes has been told that the boy’s grandmother, Rael Mayaka, was not on good terms with her daughter-in-law over the death of her son, Richard Ochogo Mayieka, two years ago.
Ms Mayaka told the court that she was not in talking terms with Pacificah Nyakerario because she was suspected of having killed her husband, who was Mama Mayaka’s son, back in 2021.
The two, according to Mama Mayaka, had not spoken since the unexplained disappearance of her son, after the octogenarian allegedly demanded information from the daughter-in-law about the whereabouts of her missing son.
“We have not been talking. When I went to ask her about my son, she became hostile and started insulting me. She even chased me from her home,” said Mayaka, noting that to date, she has never known what killed her son.
Mayaka, who was giving her defense evidence at the Kisii Law Courts on Friday, said she had two boys—Sagini’s step father, Thomas Ongaga, and Ochogo. She said that Ochogo, now deceased, was the step father to Alex Maina Ochogo, one of the three suspects in the gouging out of baby Sagini’s eyes. The other accused are Mayaka and Nyakerario.
Paradoxically, on the day baby Sagini went missing, Mayaka and Nyakerario had briefly spoken in the morning, at around 9am.
“She told me that she was attending a burial in the neighbourhood,” said Mayaka who was at pains to explain how they had talked with her daughter-in-law on the morning of the fateful day that young Sagini went missing, only to be found nearly dead, yet for a year, they had stayed mute on each other.
The issue of Ochogo’s murder also featured during Nyakerario’s defense hearing, exposing a protracted family feud.
During her defense hearing last week, Nyakerario said she does not know what killed her husband and that she narrowly escaped lynching by neighbours at the time of his death.
“That is why there is bad blood between me and my mother-in-law. People were accusing me of poisoning my husband, leading to his death. I did not kill him,” said Nyakerario as she denied that land and inheritance could have led to the gouging out of her grandson’s eyes.
Notably, Mayaka told the court that on the day Sagini went missing, she had punished him for defecating in a sufuria the family used to cook tea.
“I loved Sagini. But that day, he had defecated in a sufuria and I beat him up. It was around 10am. Later, at 2pm when he saw me, he started to run towards a local shop. At 3pm, I went looking for him after I realised he was missing. We searched for him with his step-father, who later left at 8pm after complaining that he was feeling cold,” said Mayaka.
During the cross examination, the court was treated to tense moments, argumentative sessions and at times laughter after the prosecution and lawyers for baby Sagini and the three accused disagreed on the manner of questioning.
Mayaka and the two other suspects are represented by Ms Vane Moguche and Mr Winston Magara on pro bono basis, while baby Sagini is being represented by lawyers George Morara, Davin Biyaki and Ann Nduhukire. State Counsel Mr Hillary Kaino is prosecuting the case.
Mayaka also denied gouging out Sagini’s eyes, noting that his grandson lied when she testified in court that she was responsible for the attack.
Senior Resident Magistrate Christine Ogweno said the case will resume on May 26 for defense submissions.
“But I am surprised that the defense lawyers did not avail any witnesses as they had promised last week,” stated Ms Ogweno.
