A woman accused of burning her eight-year-old son over a chapati meal has been detained at the Matete Police Station in Kakamega County.
The woman used pieces of hair extension to tie the Grade 2 pupil's hands before dousing them with paraffin and setting them alight.
The suspect, 38, was arrested after neighbours reported she had inflicted the injuries on her son, accusing him of eating two chapatis she had prepared.
The boy said he had gone to play with his friends and when he returned home on Wednesday evening, his mother beat him viciously.
“My mother dragged me into the house and beat me up before she ordered that I remove my clothes. She them used some pieces of braids to tie my hands. She then doused my hands in paraffin and set them alight,” said the boy.
After the ordeal, the boy managed to escape from the house reported the incident to neighbours who went to investigate what has happened.
Mr Geoffrey Bakuli, an officials of the Urafiki Initiative based at Matete reported the matter to police and took the boy to rescue centre for victims of violence.
The organisation is involved in a campaign to protect children from violence.
The boy’s grandfather Jackton Shikuku Mukongolo said he was shocked by the incident.
“I was away when the incident happened and our neighbours told me that they had seen the boy with burns on his hands. When I talked to him, he said his mother had beaten him up and doused his hands in paraffin and set them on fire,” said Mr Mukongolo.
Shocked villagers said the woman has been mistreating her son for a long time after she had a disagreement with her husband.
She had earlier been arrested after she scalded the boy with a piece of hot metal on the back.
Mr Mukongolo and his wife Agnes said the boy was being subjected to cruel treatment by her mother and needed to be supported. They said had asked their son to take the responsibility of caring for his son but he had declined.
“I do not know why the boy’s mother has turned cruel and decided to subject her son to such mistreatment. We asking the police to ensure she is charged,” said Mr Mukongolo.