Mother accused of burning child with hot iron box to remain in custody

Catherine Akinyi before a Nakuru Law Court on November 19, 2018. [Harun Wathari, Standard]

A Nakuru Court has deferred a bond term determination for a woman charged with cruelty to her child.

Catherine Akinyi was charged with burning her step-daughter with an iron box which caused grievous harm and injury to the daughter’s health.

The charge sheet indicated that the accused burned the minor twice with a hot iron box on November 14 at their home in Manyani area, Nakuru East Sub-County.

She denied the charges before Principal Magistrate Joe Omido and the case was transferred to another trial court for hearing.

The prosecution prayed for the accused to be remanded until they are assured of the safety of the victim and the court granted them their request.

Akinyi appeared before Senior Principal Magistrate Victor Wakumile for her bond terms review.

However, the prosecution prayed for the court to defer the review to a later date since they had not obtained the police file.

They also requested for the court to summon the investigative officer to avail the statements and police report as soon as possible. The defence did not object to their request.

The case will be mentioned on Friday when the bond terms review will be revisited.

The accused is currently remanded at Bondeni Police Station.

The victim aged 14 left the place she previously lived with the accused and went to live with her aunt.