Woman dumps baby by roadside hours after birth

A 23-year-old woman gave birth to a baby boy and later dumped him by the roadside at Lubao along the Kakamega-Webuye road.

The woman is said to have given birth at the Shikusa Prisons Dispensary.

A nurse who sought anonymity said the baby was delivered normally and the mother discharged five hours after delivery.

The nurse said the woman was not accompanied by any family member at the time she went to the facility in labour.

Maurice Ogendo, a boda boda rider at Lubao market, said they saw the woman in deep thoughts near Lubao Primary School holding a baby in her hands.

Mr Ogendo said after half an hour, the woman disappeared and they thought that she had gone home since they know her.

“Five minutes later, we heard a baby crying and rushed to the scene where the woman was standing and found that she had abandoned the baby there. We called the girl’s mother and handed over the baby to her,” Ogendo said.

He said they launched a manhunt for the woman and found her trying to board a vehicle to Malava.

“We took her to Kakamega Central Police station," he added. 

A relative to the woman said the woman has another child out of wedlock and could have feared to bring a second child home to her parents yet she was unmarried.

There are also suspicions that the girl could have been impregnated by her uncle and wanted to get rid of the baby as this was considered taboo.

“As per the Kabras traditions, when you sire a child with a relative, the child is supposed to be given away to an orphanage or abandoned by the roadside. Bringing up such a child within the homestead is a bad omen for the family,” she said.

Kakamega Central OCPD Bernstein Shari confirmed the incident saying they have launched investigations to the matter.

He said the woman was released into the care of her grandmother.

“The woman was bleeding and on humanitarian grounds, we cannot lock her behind bars as we don’t want the health of the baby to be affected. We want her grandmother to help her as we continue with our investigations,” said Shari.