26-year-old woman kills her two children, commits suicide in Nairobi slum

A 26-year-old woman killed her two children before committing suicide in a Nairobi slum.

Neighbours and police said the bodies were discovered Wednesday long after the incident had happened. They had not been seen for almost a day prompting a search that discovered the bodies of the mother, her son and girl.

The woman is believed to have first murdered the two children aged six and four years before taking her own life at Vumilia slums in Donholm area.

Police recovered a suicide note allegedly accusing her husband of infidelity. The husband was not present at the time of the incident. He arrived at the scene as the bodies were being moved to the mortuary.

Buruburu police boss Geoffrey Maiyek said they are investigating to establish if the woman was behind the incident.

“We were called and informed of the incident long after it had happened. We collected a note from the house but we can’t tell if she was the author,” said Maiyek.

Police say preliminary findings show the three died out of strangulation. It is believed the woman also fed the children with poison before strangling her with a piece of cloth.

A neighbour who visited the scene said the deceased woman and her children seemed to have consumed poison. It was then that the woman hastened the death by hanging the children using clothing material.

The bodies were moved to the mortuary as emotional neighbours wailed while mourning the incident.

Meanwhile, a suspected thug was shot dead in a botched robbery in Mukuru slums, Nairobi and a knife found on him.

Police say the suspect was in the company of three others and had been attacking and robbing locals when an alarm was raised.

The other accomplices managed to escape on foot. The body was moved to the mortuary.

More than 15 suspects have been killed in separate incidents in the city in the past month alone in a campaign against armed robbers. Police say most of the deceased are young men aged between 18 and 25.