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Marsabit: Two infants killed over alleged customary belief

The said community holds a customary belief that having twins as firstborns in a family is a bad omen.

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by KNA

Central23 January 2025 - 11:40
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In Summary


  • Area Assistant County Commissioner Nazar Njuki said the inexplicable incident happened when the infants were suspected to have been suffocated to death as the parents allegedly feared a bad omen. 
  • Njuki added that local authorities were on the alert because the said community still clings to a superstition.

Crime Scene /FILE

North Horr constituency is reeling in shock after two infants were killed over what preliminary investigation links to an outdated customary belief among a local community.

The infants, a male and female, were reportedly healthy on delivery on Sunday and they, including their mother, were discharged on Monday.

Area Assistant County Commissioner Nazar Njuki said the inexplicable incident happened when the infants were suspected to have been suffocated to death as the parents allegedly feared a bad omen. 

The community holds a customary belief that having twins as firstborns in a family is a bad omen.

Njuki added that local authorities were on the alert because the said community still clings to a superstition.

The ACC said the area chief closely monitored the couple after they were discharged but, unfortunately, the babies were killed at night and hurriedly buried in a grave within the homestead, even without seeking burial a permit.       

The administrator said investigations started after the chief and his assistant were informed that the twins had been eliminated in accordance with the community’s old belief. 

He said four suspects have been arrested.           

"We took swift action and apprehended four suspects who had gone into hiding," the ACC said.

He said the act was a contravention of Article 26 of the Constitution.    

He said preliminary investigation points to suffocation or strangulation as the possible cause of death.

The law enforcer said detectives were seeking a court order to exhume the bodies to pave the way for a postmortem examination.   

"It is only through a postmortem that the real cause of death of the babies will be established," he said.           

He deemed the belief that firstborn twins were a bad omen and the practice of eliminating them as archaic and urged the local community to discard them.

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