Eight students from Kabarnet Boys’ High School in Baringo Central were on Thursday arraigned in Kabarnet court to face arson charges.
The students are alleged to have committed the offence on the night of February 2 where they set ablaze one dormitory.
However, the accused could not take plea as the prosecution counsel requested the court to allow them to detain them for seven days to enable investigations to be completed.
The lawyer representing the boys objected the request arguing that the students were not a flight risk and that they were being assaulted at the police station while some of them were suffering from illnesses such as asthma while one is still recuperating after undergoing a surgical operation sometime last year.
In her response, the prosecutor Carol Muriu told the court that she was not aware of the gross allegation meted on the accused.
“I am not aware of the gross allegations, we appreciate their rights as children but I urge the court to balance the interests to prevent interference with the investigations,’’ said Ms Muriu.
Ruling, Senior Principal Magistrate (SPM) Paul Biwot agreed with the defense counsel and gave the students a personal bond of Sh300,000 each and their parents will stand surety of the bond and those without parents will have the child services stand for them.
The magistrate further ordered the accused to report to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCIO) office every Friday stating that failure to do so will lead to their remand at the police station.
The students were also barred from entering the school premises during the period of investigations. Mr Biwot ordered the case to be mentioned on February 18.
by Joshua Kibet
