Woman who abandoned baby in a dustbin twice found drinking in a bar - What followed is epic

It was business as usual as drinkers downed sips of the foamy contents of the brown bottle. The party, however, was abruptly cut short by a mega entrance of three women carrying a crying baby, seemingly searching for someone in the pub.

The visit raised eyebrows and the bartender inquired of their mission. That is when the ceiling caved in.

The women narrated how they heard a baby crying in a dustbin located at the town's backstreet. Upon investigation, they found the poor thing wrapped in a cloak, calling for attention. On further scrutiny, they discovered the child was the one found at the same spot weeks before. Apparently, this was not the first time the kid was abandoned. Knowing where to find the uncaring mother, they stormed the pub.

As expected, the mother, a lover of the bottle, was found tipsy in another room dancing barefoot to the booming tunes of the famous Kalenjin singer Micha Maritim.

"Kuja hapa, ghasia hii,” (Come here useless thing) One patron roughly pulled her out of the room amid loud protests from the obviously drunk woman.

"Wapi Mtoto?” (Where is your child?) This he asked punctuating it with a rain of blows that landed on her face.

By now, a huge crowd had already gathered cheering the disciplinarian to administer more punishment. A stick was thrown in his direction. With haste, he gave six of the best on her buttocks leaving the crowd in stitches. Unfortunately, the stick came to pieces before other men who wanted to ‘teach her a lesson’ had their chance.

The bartender went in and reappeared with a ‘Nyahunyo’ (a rubber whip). What followed is beyond description. The woman was whipped again and again. As this went on, she literally insulted everyone calling them unprintable names. The liquor seemed to have acted as a painkiller as not even a drop of tear fell from her eyes.

It was probably this show of stubbornness that drove one man to head to his car parked across the street and reemerged with a ‘Chebunyo’ or rather ‘Kanya Sang’ (Kalenjin for Rungu) threatening to hit her head to submission.

At the sight of the lethal weapon and the murderous red eyes of the drunk man, the woman fell flat on her tummy asking for forgiveness.

It took the intervention of the same women who brought the toddler to whisk her away from the unforgiving patrons.

As they disappeared to give her a lecture on motherhood, beer flowed new babysitters in the crowded bar.

"Huyu mama anaibisha mkubwa bwana. Leo ameona cha mtema kumi. “Intoned a man across my table as he flushed down his remaining beer.

The tale is now the talk of the town.

Steve Lauryen is a teacher of English and Literature at St. Peter's Marakwet Boys High School.