A five year old nursery school kid is receiving treatment after she went partially blind as a result of the beating by her parents over omena.
According to Bahati sub-County Children’s Coordinator Salome Waithaka, the minor was beaten by her father and stepmother after she devoured omena without permission.
She is also reported to have been beaten for failing to wash her two-year-old brother’s clothes.
The young girl is now suffering a clot on the left side of her brain as well as visible injuries on the face, neck, buttocks, hands and head.
According to the child department services official, the girl reported prolonged abuse by her father and stepmother.
She indicated that the child recalled being denied food at home and had to beg or scavenge in garbage bins and dumpsites.
“The girl told us that her father would deliberately burn her with cigarette butts, accusing her of not being disciplined,” Ms. Waithaka said.
The victim was rescued from her parents’ abusive hands by the Children’s Department in Bahati, Nakuru County and rushed to a private hospital in Eldoret for treatment.
A report was made at Bahati Police Station under OB08/05/06/2020 and the father had been arrested and charged with assault and negligence.
He is serving a six-month jail term. The girl was placed in a children’s home and later taken for treatment and counselling as she was traumatised.
However, two weeks ago, it was realized that her movements were slow and that she would at times fall when walking.
She was taken to the Rift Valley Provincial General Hospital where experts advised to have her eyes examined.
A medical report from a CT scan now indicates that a surgery is necessary to prevent her from becoming completely blind.
The biological mother who is a domestic worker in Nairobi revealed in an interview with the Standard that her daughter’s father asked to bond with their daughter but then turned abusive in the course of her stay with the dad.
Bahati Sub-County Police Commander Jacinta Wangechi said though the suspect was arrested and charged with assault, he is bound to face more charges.
Wangechi said the police are waiting for the girl to be discharged from hospital for them to be able to take more actions against her father.