It has been ‘hell’ living with my stepmother

A boy, 5, displays injuries on his back allegedly caused by his step-mother in Kisumu County, yesterday. [PHOTO: COLLINS ODUOR/STANDARD]

By MANGOA MOSOTA

Kisumu, Kenya: The five-year-old boy has dark marks on his back, head and some on his arms which he said he got from a beating by his stepmother.

She allegedly used an electric wire to beat him up for accidentally spilling a meal of rice at their home in Gudka Estate, Kisumu County.

“Mama alinichapa baada ya kumwaga mchele (My mother beat me up after I spilled rice),” he said in a voice barely audible.

The injuries have turned into black marks and it seems he was repeatedly assaulted and struggles to walk.

Tom (not his real name) is in anguish and is frightened after the experience last week. The boy, dressed in a white pair of shorts, stares into space as he narrates his ordeal.

He said he has been forced to sleep on his tummy since his back constantly aches.

The head teacher of Bhagini Samj Nursery School where he is a pupil, Ms Shanta Vekaria said his class teacher noticed the boy had wounds and alerted his mother.

“We told her to come to school and explain what has happened to her son, but she has not shown up,” she told The Standard.

The class teacher, Pamela Agai, said Tom looked distraught last week on Tuesday and when she checked his body, she found the injuries.

“I told his mother to immediately come to school, but she said she was out of town, hence would not make it,” said Ms Agai, adding she again requested her to come the following day, but she failed to do so.

The Standard tracked the victim’s stepmother to Kibuye market, where she runs a shop. She, however denied assaulting the minor, insisting the injuries were inflicted by her househelp.

“He was beaten by the house help last Monday, and I sacked her immediately,” the woman said, adding she took the boy to a nearby clinic for treatment.

Just like the administration in Tom’s school, the mother did not report the incident to authorities.

“I saw no need of informing the police since they would not find the househelp,” she said.

When The Standard asked the househelp about the incident she denied assaulting the minor, saying she no longer works for Tom’s mother.

“She (Tom’s mother) is merely accusing me. I left her home earlier this month after we differed,” she said.

On Tuesday, the Children Department in Kisumu said the incident has not been reported to them.

A report on child abuse in the country released late last year, showed indicated most abusers happen to be people close to the children.