Kenya death sentence · LEAD
EXPLAINER: Why Judges Break Pens After Death Sentences
When a Nyeri judge snapped his pen after sentencing a child killer to death last week, social media erupted. The gesture is centuries old, steeped in imperial history, and carries layers of legal and moral symbolism. We trace its origins from the Mughal courts of India to the packed courtrooms of modern Kenya — and ask what it tells us about a country that still sentences people to death but has not executed anyone in nearly four decades.