Woman kills her newborn baby after row with husband

Police in Voi, Taita Taveta County have arrested a woman after she allegedly killed her infant in Dambi, Sagalla.

Esther Wanjala, 27, was accused of suffocating her one-week-old boy after a domestic dispute with her husband.

According to neighbours, the husband accused the wife of siring the baby with another man.

He allegedly said he could not bring up another man’s child.

“The couple has been having frequent marital quarrels. This incident has shocked us,” said a villager Anne Wakesho.

She said her mother in law discovered that her grandson had been killed when she returned home in the evening.

“No one knows when she exactly committed the murder. Her mother in law demanded that she feeds the baby only to be brought a dead body,” she explains.

Ms Wakesho said the couple had previously separated but made amends recently and the woman returned to her matrimonial home.

She said the husband later discovered that her estranged wife was pregnant.

“After the wife delivered last week the man said the baby was not his and told the woman to go back to her parent's home with her newborn,” Ms Wakesho said.

Dambi village elder John Mwambisi said the husband had sent her wife back to her parents.

“He demanded that his two other children remains with him and that she says depressed her,” he said.

County police boss Fred Ochieng confirmed the incident saying that police had launched investigations into the incident.

He said the body of the infant was taken to Moi County Referral Hospital’s mortuary.

He said the woman will be arraigned in court on Monday to answer charges of murder.

He urged couples to seek counselling from marriage councillors, family members, church and village elders instead of resorting to domestic violence.

“There will always be an amicable solution to their matrimonial differences should they go for advise,” he said.