Why case against house-help accused of killing employer fails to take off

Jackline Auma in a Kisumu courtroom on September 25,2018

MUHORONI, KENYA: The house help implicated in the murder of her employer and her child in Muhoroni failed to take a plea for the second time on Tuesday.

The prosecution had been expected to prefer charges against Jackline Auma after a court ordered last week that she be subjected to a psychiatric test.

Prosecutor Gloria Barasa told Justice Fred Ochieng that the mental assessment was yet to be done and asked for more time before the suspect could take a plea.

She noted that the doctor who had been scheduled to carry out the tests on her was not around.

“The accused is yet to be assessed. The doctor has not been available to assess her,” said Barasa.

In the murder that Auma has been accused of, the body of Elizabeth Achieng,26, and that of her three-month-old son was found lying lifeless in their bedroom.

This was after her husband, Evans Okoth tried to reach her in vain for two days.

On the fateful day, Okoth who on Tuesday sat quietly in court as he looked at the suspect who stood at the dock sand witched by two prison warders had been irked by his wife’s silence.

Only a three-year-old niece whom they were staying with survived in a murder that elicited uproar among social media users.

Justice Fred Ochieng ordered that a lawyer be assigned to represent her in the case.

The case will be mentioned on October 3.