A 25-year-old man from Kinangop, Nyandarua county, has been arrested after his two-year-old daughter, who was left in his care, was defiled to death.
According to a report at Haraka police station, the wife left the child in the care of the father on Friday as she travelled to Nairobi to sell second-hand clothes. She travelled with their nine-month-old baby.
The mother returned home at 7pm only to find her daughter in bed, unconscious, with injuries to her face.
The mother and father carried the unconscious child to her paternal grandmother's home.
“I don’t know what to say because they live away from me. When they knocked on my door with the unconscious child, I asked my daughter to accompany them to the hospital because I'm unwell,” the grandmother told the Star on the phone.
The daughter, who was asked to accompany the couple to the hospital, said upon examination the doctors said the child had been defiled and advised them to report the matter to the police.
“We reported the matter at Magumu police post and the husband was arrested after brief interrogation,” she said.
She said they were then referred to Naivasha County Referral Hospital in Nakuru.
“At Naivasha, the doctors tried to save the child, but she died while undergoing treatment," she said.
Kinangop subcounty police commander Phyllis Kanina said the baby died on Saturday afternoon. She was admitted on Friday night.
“We have arrested the father, and he is in our custody. The baby had been left in his care,” Kanina said.
The distraught mother was unable to speak when the Star called on Saturday evening. She could not be reached on the phone on Sunday.
The girl's grandmother said she has been pleading with her son to allow the mother to be travelling with the child to Nairobi, but he refused.
“You may never know about a person who stays away from you. I have been speaking with my son, but he warns me to keep away from his daughter," the grandmother said.
Edited by A.N
