Newborn baby rescued after being buried alive in Homa Bay

A day and half old baby boy has been rescued after its mother allegedly buried him alive in Homa Bay County.

The infant narrowly escaped death after his mother, alleged to be a Form Two student chose to kill the baby.

The student who is about 20 years old, reportedly gave birth but decided to bury the infant Friday evening at Kitare village, Kasewe Sub Location in Rachuonyo East Sub County.

Rescue efforts however started after Lea Akinyi, a community health volunteer, visited the student's home to seek information on wellbeing of the baby.

Witnesses said the student told the social worker that the infant died and had already been buried.

This prompted other family members and neighbours to seek more information about the minor’s whereabouts.

Area Assistant Chief Dickson Samba, said the student dug a shallow hole, placed the infant inside a carton box and buried it behind her mother’s house.

However, some of the women who were at the scene realised it was wrong to bury the infant behind his grandmother’s house in accordance with Luo cultural beliefs.

“The family members and a few neighbours who had gone to the home decided to exhume the body so that the boy is buried in the right place,” said Samba.

When the body was exhumed, Akinyi decided to open the box to view it and discovered the infant was alive.

“They realised that the infant was still alive and that was when the burial arrangements flopped. Akinyi took the infant to take care of him and the baby is in stable health,” added Samba.

Samba said the baby's mother wanted to kill the baby due to stigma she was subjected to from family members and friends.

This was her third child after giving birth to two children while still in school.

He said the student could not be arrested because her health was unstable, although she had not been taken to hospital by the time of going to press.