•The mental assessment will be done at Homa Bay County Teaching and Referral Hospital.
•Night Akoth appeared in court on Monday where she is accused of beheading her son Briton Ochineg’ at Ng'ope village, North Kabuoch ward on Saturday night.
A 23-year-old woman in Ndhiwa who beheaded her 14-month-old son for refusing to breastfeed will undergo mental assessment.
Principal magistrate Mary Ochieng’ directed this to ascertain whether she is sane or not.
The mental assessment will be done at Homa Bay County Teaching and Referral Hospital.
The directive came after a police officer investigating the case requested for more time to continue holding Night Akoth to enable them to conclude investigations on the incident.
“Officers investigating this matter are hereby granted seven days to continue holding the suspect as she will also undergo a mental test,” the magistrate directed.
Ndhiwa police commander Robert Aboki said they will continue holding the mother as directed by the court.
“The suspect is accused of murder and there is a need for tight security until the matter is concluded,” Aboki said.
She will also be detained for seven more days before returning to court for plea taking.
Akoth appeared in court on Monday where she is accused of beheading her son Briton Ochieng’ at Ng'ope village, North Kabuoch ward, on Saturday night.
Akoth is accused of chopping off the head of the son with a sharp panga in their house after he refused to breastfeed.
The incident began when the boy cried for an unknown reason. However, her efforts to calm him down using breast milk proved futile before she got angry.
It is still not clear why Akoth allegedly killed the son since failure to breastfeed seems to be a trivial reason.
The minor’s body is lying at the Manyatta Nursing Home mortuary at Kabodo trading centre.
A postmortem will also be conducted in seven days.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris