Crime sceneA pastor and two church leaders have been arrested after four children sustained serious injuries after they were allegedly burnt with hot water to remove evil spirits during a church service in Bondo, Siaya county.
The pastor, deacon and the church mother worship at St Abraham Assemblies of God.
Bondo assistant county commissioner Stephen Osoi said police swung into action after a teacher reported the matter, when a five-year-old pupil reported to school with burns all over his body.
Osoi disclosed that police immediately detained the three to aid with investigations on what transpired during last Sunday church service at the church commonly known as Sayuni.
The mother of the five-year-old child has also been detained for failing to report the incident and attempting to conceal what happened in the church.
Osoi said investigations reveal that many children were scolded with boiling water with four sustaining burns all over their body.
The boy’s mother said the deacon warned her not to report the matter to the police promising to take care of the treatment, when she questioned what had happened to her son but he later failed to pick her calls.
Both the church pastor and church mother pleaded innocence, saying they were not in church on Sunday.
They, however, confessed that the church has been practicing exorcism of evil spirits using special mixture of herbs boiled in hot water and a red candle called Mikael.
Osoi said the police are still pursuing the whereabouts of three other children, two girls and a boy believed to be living with their parents at Nyenye beach in Usigu subcounty and Migwena area in South Sakwa.
The ACC warned that the administration in Bondo will take stern action against religious groups and churches involved in human rights violation, even as he directed for the immediate closure of St Abraham Sayuni church.
Bondo subcounty Children Officer Beatrice Oguda urged other parents, whose children were burnt to immediately take them for medical care and report the matter to the police, as part of the ongoing investigation into the incident and protection of children’s rights.
Oguda said she will be moving to court to apply for placement of the affected child under care and protection, while asking churches to vet all their elders before leaving them in charge of children to avoid such incidences.
