16-year-old who killed husband to save baby

A 16-year-old mother told a High Court judge she was forced to stab her husband in order to protect their daughter.

The mother, identified only as A, said she was trying to protect herself and her one-year-old daughter when she stabbed her husband at her mother’s home.

According to court documents, the man had showed up drunk at his mother-in-law's home at 9.30pm and demanded that his wife accompany him back to their matrimonial home.

Earlier that day, January 22, 2017, the two had had an argument during which the man was said to have turned violent. His wife fled to her mother’s home but in the evening, the husband turned up and ordered her to return home.

A’s mother reportedly pleaded with him to return the next day when he was sober. He left but returned barely an hour later, this time demanding to take his child away.

Broke door

“He climbed the fence and dropped into the mother-in-law’s compound and broke the door to the house and started beating the accused and her mother while trying to take the baby by force,” read the court papers dated February 9, 2018.

He is said to have then picked a kitchen knife and threatened to kill his wife and their daughter if she was not handed over to him. He was disarmed, but he went to the kitchen and picked another knife.

“The deceased attempted to stab the accused and her baby, and while defending herself, the accused and the deceased struggled for the knife. During that commotion the deceased was accidentally stabbed in the ribs,” the court was told.

The man was rushed to Thika Level Five Hospital where he is said to have been denied admission. He received first aid treatment at a Dr Wachira’s health centre and was referred to St Mulumba’s Hospital where he died due to the injury. As a result, his wife was charged with murder.

“It turned out later that the victim of the alleged homicide was A’s husband. It is not clear how old he was but he was clearly an adult,” the court papers revealed.

In his judgement, Justice Joel Ngugi said A had already undergone trauma, which was evident also from her mother, who could not stop crying in court.

The judge noted that while the probation report indicated that she may have had some anger-related issues, it was important for her to undergo counselling.

“Given the age of her child, I sentence her to six months of institutionalised probation sentence,” he said.