Actress Gloria Moraa is in trouble after her dog bit her neighbour’s four-year-old child at their Baraka Estate residence in Embakasi, Nairobi almost three months ago.
She is now facing charges of reckless and negligent behaviour causing harm to the minor. Alternatively, she could be forced to pay more than Sh150,000 in hospital bills if the charges are dropped.
Moraa is accused of negligently failing to take precautions against the likely danger posed by a dog in her possession to the extent that the life of the four-year-old child was endangered on 30 July this year.
The child was playing outside her home with other children when her mother went to fetch her. Just before the mother reached the place where she was playing, Ms Moraa’s dog left her property and chased the minor, biting her on the leg behind the knee.
She was taken to a nearby hospital bleeding. The minor’s mother called Ms Moraa before she reached the hospital to ask if the dog had been vaccinated, but she was unable to ascertain whether she had taken the dog to be vaccinated.
The suspect allegedly kept promising to provide the vaccination certificate for her dog, but she did not keep her promises and became unreachable to the minor’s mother.
The victim’s mother reported the matter to Embakasi Police Station and the TV personality was traced and arrested. She denied the charges before Principal Magistrate Irene Gichobi of the Makadara Law Courts. She was released on Sh10,000 cash bail.
The case will come up for mention on 16 November ahead of trial on 20 February next year.
The child’s mother is listed as a key witness in the case, along with a doctor who treated the child at the hospital and a police officer who investigated the case.
