A 17-year-old girl recounted how her parents reportedly forced her to sell her baby for Ksh 3,000, moments after she gave birth.
In a report aired by Citizen TV on Monday night, May 25, the teenager from Butere, Kakamega County, disclosed that her mother orchestrated the plot after her father chased her from home when he found out she was with child.
The father argued that the newborn would be an outcast since her teenage daughter had been impregnated by a close relative.
He also reportedly added that the pregnancy violated the culture and tradition of the region.
The buyer, a woman had already paid for the child and was waiting for the infant to gain strength before taking him/her away.
"My mother had already landed a buyer who would take custody of the infant.
"After I gave birth, they said that the child was still weak and they would take the infant after a few days. Yesterday (Monday, May 25), my mother handed over the child to the woman who made the purchase," the Form Two student recalled.
Her mother also lamented that the child's upbringing would have cost them an arm and a leg since they were financially unstable.
"They allegedly did not want to raise the child as they dubbed it 'bad blood'," an officer stated.
Police in Kakamega are investigating the incident.
In March 2020, a survey by the National Council on Population and Development (NCPD) revealed that one in five girls aged between 15 and 19 in Kenya is either pregnant or has given birth.
As at the end of 2019, 379,573 girls, including 10-year-olds were impregnated. 20,828 minors that have been driven into parenthood are aged between 10 and 14 years.
According to the report, teenage pregnancies are being fuelled by rape, defilement, poverty, early marriages, peer influence, drug abuse and lack of youth-friendly health services.
Video: Citizen TV
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