A woman in Baringo South subcounty has said a rapist not only tried to murder her but also crushed her baby to death. The child was strapped to her back.
The woman in Kasiela said the eight-month-old child died as she battled with the man who raped her on Friday last week.
“He slapped me, pushing me down on rocky ground and in the process suffocated my child in the 15-minute tussle,” she told the Star on Sunday.
Village elders said the man, whom she identified, was a known criminal who committed a murder two years ago and recently resurfaced.
She said she had strapped her child to her back and was heading home when it started to drizzle at 5pm. She sheltered under a tree when the rapist suddenly emerged from a bush.
The man told her to remove her clothes and “when I refused, he spewed insults and slapped me before pushing me down to the ground with my child."
"When I asked why he was doing this, he said he would kill me if I dared to raise the alarm," the woman said as she wept.
She said the man then tried to strangle her to death and in the process squashed the child into the rocky ground.
"I screamed but nobody helped me," she said.
The area is sparsely populated after many people fled bandit attacks and cattle rustling.
The young mother said she passed out and when she came to, she found her child dead — crushed and suffocated— still strapped to her back.
The woman said the suspect, whom she said she could identify, had vanished.
The woman is now appealing for security agencies to arrest and prosecute the man.
Chebinyiny chief Samuel Waseges said the woman was sent to Nyahururu Referral Hospital in Laikipia county, where doctors confirmed she had been raped.
Waseges said the child's body was taken to the hospital mortuary.
He said the suspect is still at large and is perceived to be armed and dangerous. He appealed to members of the public to be alert and provide information leading to his arrest.
Contacted for comment, Baringo police commander Robinson Ndiwa said he had not received any information concerning the attack and urged reporters to check with Baringo South.
Chebinyiny village elder John Wendot, who is also a Nyumba Kumi member, claimed the suspect had already killed a person two years ago in the area.
"He is known for his criminal acts," he said.
Wendot said after the murder two years ago, the man went into hiding and he resurfaced two months ago.
