Woman accused of poisoning her child to be free for housework in Saudi Arabia
The woman allegedly bought yoghurt from a shop and fed it to her child. It is after she consumed the yoghurt that the baby developed severe vomiting and died minutes later. The yoghurt container emitted [a smell suspected to be of] a pesticide.
Police in Murang'a are holding a woman suspected of killing her four-year-old baby so as to be free to fly out to Saudi Arabia to work as a domestic helper.
The woman, who hails from Muruka village, is suspected of committing the crime between November 6 and 7, said Kandara sub-county police.
The police said she found work through an agent and was to fly to the kingdom on November 16.
"She approached her husband with the news and requested that he be left taking care of the child ...," the report says.
When her husband rejected the plan, she reportedly hatched a plot to kill their daughter so that she could be free to leave Kenya.
She allegedly bought yoghurt from a shop and fed it to her child.
"It is after she consumed the yoghurt that the baby developed severe vomiting and died minutes later. The yoghurt container emitted [a smell suspected to be of] a pesticide," the report states.
Police seized a container of a half-used pesticide from the couple’s house whose smell matched that detected in the yoghurt container.
The death was under investigation, said Kandara sub-county Police Commander Michael Mwaura.
The circumstances she died in
He said the woman is helping the police with investigations and they were "waiting for a postmortem to be done on the child's body so as to get a report about the circumstances she died in".
The report will help determine the next cause of action, he added.
Detectives also seized several samples of yoghurt from the shop where the yoghurt fed to the child was sold.
"We intend to ascertain whether the samples match ... We want to know whether the sample collected from the suspect's house forensically matches with the rest of the batch from the shop," said a detective on the case.
He said "it is all about sealing loopholes since our suspect might attempt to blame the shopkeeper or even the processor of poisoning her baby".
Area Maendeleo Ya Wanawake Organisation coordinator Felista Njogu urged the police "to thoroughly investigate this disturbing allegation with all the seriousness it deserves".
She lamented that a mother was suspected of “taking the life of an innocent child for whatever reason”.
Pastor Elijah Kinyanjui of Oasis of Life Ministries said his followers will "pray for the evils that are being reported in Kandara on a daily basis to a point we feel Satan is on a holiday here".
