One-day-old child found buried as mother taken into custody
Nyanza
By
James Omoro
| Jan 15, 2024
Residents of Kawiti village in Rachuonyo South sub-county, Homa Bay county are reeling in shock after a 31-year-old woman allegedly murdered and secretly buried her baby hours after birth.
The mother of three children reportedly delivered the baby girl on Thursday at 10pm with the help of a community health volunteer at home.
However, she allegedly buried the baby's body at about 8pm on Friday in a neighbour's farm.
On Saturday, residents got suspicious after they failed to see the woman with the baby.
Concerned residents informed the village elder about the matter after establishing that the baby was missing and the woman was not revealing it's whereabouts.
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The village elder reported the matter to Kamuma Sub-location Assistant Chief Collins Joram who went to the woman's house but failed to see the baby.
He asked the woman the whereabouts of the baby but she could not give a convincing answer.
Joram then decided to interrogate the other children and one of them revealed that she saw the mother bury the baby on Friday night.
"The woman could not give a convincing answer on the whereabouts of the infant. One of her children hinted to me that the woman had buried the infant in a neighbour's farm," he said.
"We went to the farm and found signs that something had been buried. I called police from Oyugis Police Station to come to the scene," he added.
Police exhumed the baby's body.
"It seems the woman might have killed the baby before burying her. If the baby died a natural death, she would not have buried her secretly," Joram said.
The woman was arrested and detained at Oyugis Police Station.
The administrator urged residents to respect human life as enshrined in the law.
"Let residents respect human life. It is illegal and weird to handle a human being in this manner," the assistant chief said.
The body was removed to Rachuonyo South Sub-county Hospital mortuary in Oyugis town.