A family in Busia County is seeking justice after their one-year-old baby passed on after the mother was detained in police custody with the sick infant.
According to the family, the woman was arrested by the Kakapel location chief for selling illicit liquor and taken to police custody with the sick baby.
The mother, however, pleaded with the chief to allow her to take the infant to hospital then she would turn herself in afterwards.
But the chief could hear none of it and handed her over to the police. The woman was detained with the sick boy, who at the time was vomiting.
"The Chief then called for a vehicle that took me to the GSU camp at Amagoro. At around 7 p.m. a police vehicle came to transfer me to Malaba police station," the distraught mother told journalists.
"By morning, my child's condition had worsened. He vomited again and convulsed. It was only then that a female police officer took note and notified her seniors. But they took their time taking tea before ordering that the child be taken to Kocholya hospital," she added.
Speaking to the press, the woman stated that on Wednesday, her son fell sick and was attended to by community health workers.
The boy was given the anti-malarial drug AL and painkillers.
Malaba police station OCS George Ooka disputed the accounts of the family, claiming that it was the police who noticed that the baby was sick and took him to the hospital.
"Actually, it was was a police officer who noticed the child was sick and acted to take him to hospital. As the police service, we are very sensitive to cases of ill health. I have on several occasions personally taken suspects to hospital," the OCS stated.
Ooka stated that the woman was in possession of 15 litres of the illicit brew and it is being held as an exhibit.
