Dorcas Chepchumba, a three-year old girl from Kapenguria in West Pokot County has seven sewing needles lodged in her body.
Doctors at Kapenguria County Referral Hospital confirmed the presence of the needles after an X-ray imaging.
Five of the needles are lodged on her abdomen while two are on her back.
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Young Chepchumba who lives with her grandparents at Kangilikwagan village was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday with abdominal pain, cough and fever.
Her mother left her under the care of her grandparents after getting married elsewhere. The presence of the needles has baffled them as well.
“Chepchumba’s mother abandoned her at my home due to the frequent illness. She gave me the child to take care of after she got married to another man,” said the grandmother, Emily Ling’aa according to the Star.
She said the child has been sickly for the last one year always complaining of stomach upsets.
“We thought that she was bewitched because the child doesn’t belong to the family where my daughter is married,” she hypothesized. “We have been taking her to dispensaries and giving her painkillers.”
Chepchumba has been referred to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret for surgery to remove the needles.
Ling’aa is now appealing for financial aid to foot the procedure at MTRH.
West Pokot Health chief officer Ibrahim Longolomoi said Kapenguria Hospital has reported the matter to police and investigations are ongoing.
“Doctors at the hospital believe the needles were inserted into the child’s body…this is mistreatment of children,” he told journalists on Wednesday in Kapenguria.
This is the second case of its nature to be reported in the country.
Last year, a 10-month-old girl was found with 14 needles lodged in her body in Thika.
Her parents Isaac Gichure and his wife Jacinta Ndunge were arrested and arraigned in court. They were freed on a Sh300,000 bond with one surety of similar amount.