Police from Lunga Lunga in Kwale County on Friday arrested a 30-year-old woman for beating and killing her daughter aged seven.
Residents from Gathini village in Kwale raised concerns after they were alarmed by screams emanating from the woman’s house, and upon rushing to ascertain the incident, found her beating the girl up with a chapati rolling pin.
The woman, claiming she was disciplining her, continued to beat her up even after the villagers pleaded with her to stop.
One of the neighbours threatened to report her and further lamented that she was harming the child, forcing her to eventually stop.
"Around 9 p.m. on February 14, the suspect was heard assaulting her daughter using a chapati roller. Neighbours intervened, and the assault stopped," an officer based in Lunga Lunga stated.
He added that the woman escaped her rented apartment on Thursday morning en route to her rural village with the body of the girl who had succumbed to injuries from the beating.
"Upon inquiry, neighbours established that the suspect was in her rural home in Mrima village, 30 kilometres away, with the dead body of the minor, which she had ferried for burial," the police added.
Detectives have since launched investigations into the incident. In their preliminary investigations, the sleuths ascertained that the woman had wrapped the dead body in clothes, with noticeable blood stains on the girl’s face.
"It emerged that the suspect was in her rural home preparing the burial of the dead child. The suspect went into hiding after police raided their home and recovered the body of the child," the police stated.
The body was moved to Msambweni Referral Hospital mortuary for post mortem, to aid the police in further investigations.
In a separate incident in Kwale, a man submitted himself to the police on Tuesday, February 13, and confessed to chopping up his wife to death and injuring their one-year-old child.
Officers from Kanani Police Station stated that the child who sustained serious injuries was rushed to the Coast General Hospital for treatment.
“She sustained injuries on her head and skull from a deep cut”, Samburu Samburu Sub County police commander Lydia Mambo stated.
