A woman accused of stealing a two-week-old baby at the Kenyatta National Hospital has been jailed for five years.
Chief Magistrate Roseline Oganyo while sentencing Edinah Kemunto, said she had considered the increase in child theft cases in the country.
“The accused will serve five years in jail because the child was only found after a tip off from neighbours in Kawangware,” said Ms Oganyo.
Kemunto was charged last year with child-stealing at Milimani Law Courts before the matter was transferred to the City Court.
Onganyo noted that the child's parents went through hardships, even advertising about their lost child in national media.
“Kemunto was arrested after a neighbour who heard the child crying overnight reported the matter,” the magistrate said.
Kemunto pleaded guilty when she was first arraigned in court on February 27, but she later changed her plea and was released on a Sh600,000 cash bail.
Kemunto is said to have suffered a miscarriage so when she returned home from the hospital with a baby, her neighbours grew suspicious and reported the matter to the authorities.