Mother kills children, attempts suicide

By Cyrus Ombati

A woman killed her two children and tried to commit suicide by stabbing herself in the chest in Nairobi’s Kangemi estate on Monday.

The bodies of the girl aged one and eight year-old boy were found in her house at about 5 pm by neighbours who alerted police.

The children had been stabbed to death by their mother who left a note saying her husband had made her suffer for long, police said.

When police arrived, they found her hanging to life by thread while bleeding with the knife in her chest. The officers rushed her to hospital where she was admitted in serious condition.

Police suspect domestic brawl to be behind the incident but the husband who is said to be a casual labourer in the area was not present at the time of the incident.

 The bodies of the children were later taken to the mortuary as a crowd surged outside the house to have a glimpse of the scene.

Dagoretti OCPD Mathew Gwiyo said they were called by neighbours who had apparently heard the woman scream for help after she had tried to commit suicide using the knife.

“We have kept the knife as an exhibit because committing suicide is a crime leave alone the case of the children. We pray that she survives,” said Gwiyo.

Neighbours said the couple, who come from western Kenya had been having domestic problems in the past days.

The incident came almost a month after a man butchered his five children in a domestic brawl in Korogocho slums, Nairobi.

The man was arrested few days after the incident and charged in court but later committed suicide in Muthaiga police station cells on the eve of his prosecution.

Police have since closed the file on the murder of the five children who were aged between two and 12.