A man has admitted to having assaulted his two-year-old stepson for failing to take an afternoon nap.
The suspect Robert Mwanie who appeared before Mombasa, Senior principal magistrate Vincent Adet pleaded guilty to charges of cruelty to a child contrary to section 127(1) (a)of the Children Act.
The court heard that the minor had been left under the care of the suspect by the child’s mother who was a casual labourer.
Mwanie, who pleaded guilty to the charges, informed the court that he resulted to assaulting the minor after he failed to sleep to allow him some private time.
“He kept on crying seeking my attention whenever I put him to bed, anger took control of me and I beat him to make him fall asleep,” he told the court.
Repeat offender
The State, through counsel Hillary Ishaqao, told the court that the accused person had formed a habit of assaulting the minor whenever he was left under his care.
“On the alleged day he beat the minor and locked him inside the house, neighbours who were attracted by the minor’s distress cries intervened and forced him to open the door, before he was handed over to police,” Ishaqao said.
The charges were that on diverse dates between June to December 2022 at an unknown time in the Bangladesh area of Jomvu sub-county within Mombasa county, the stepfather of a boy aged 2 years willfully assaulted the minor by beating him with a stick, an act that caused injury to his health.
The court ordered for the victim’s impact assessment report to be tabled in court before his sentencing.
