This archive report was first published on 25 October 2019.
On October 23, 2019, a 14-year-old boy in Ahero, Kisumu, Kenya, was brutally attacked by his father and stepmother for allegedly stealing a mobile phone.
The Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) candidate was left nursing serious wounds after the merciless attack, which has left residents of the village in shock.
According to Nyando police boss Leonard Matete, the boy's stepmother allegedly set fire to his hands to punish him, despite the teenager claiming his innocence as his father just watched.
The two suspects wrapped the boy's fingers in a newspaper, then inserted them in paraffin before setting them on fire in the bizarre incident.
The boy's screams for help prompted neighbours to rush to his rescue, and he is now recuperating at the Ahero sub county hospital, where doctors have confirmed his condition has been stabilised.
The suspects, the boy's biological father and stepmother, are being held at Ahero Police Station as investigations continue into the incident.
