Woman dumps her newborn on the roadside hours after delivery

Police arrested a woman attempting to flee after she dumped her newborn on the roadside in Lubao.

A nurse at Shikusa Prisons Dispensary, who sought anonymity, yesterday said the baby had been delivered normally and the mother discharged five hours later.

The nurse said the woman, 23, was not accompanied when she went to the facility in labour.

Maurice Ogendo, a boda boda rider at Lubao market, said they had earlier seen the woman holding her baby near Lubao Primary School. She appeared to be in deep thoughts.

Mr Ogendo said after half an hour, the woman, known to them, had disappeared. They had all assumed she walked home.

“Minutes later, we heard a baby crying and rushed to where the woman had been standing. She had abandoned the baby there. We called her grandmother and handed over the baby to her,” Ogendo said.

The rider said they pursued woman and found her trying to board a vehicle to Malava. “We took her to Kakamega Central Police station,” he said.

Local suspected that the woman could have been impregnated by a relative and may have wanted to get rid of the baby.