Mum arrested on suspicion of dumping child in latrine

A woman in Busia was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly dumping her one-and-a-half-year-old daughter in a pit latrine.

The 38-year-old mum was, however, set free by the police after being questioned for several hours. She was ordered to take the baby to the hospital for a medical check-up.

The suspect, a hotel worker, escaped the wrath of a furious mob that wanted to lynch her.

She defended herself, saying she left the girl playing with other children in the neighbourhood and went to work. The woman said she left her daughter after breakfast.

She told the Star that while she was going about her duties at around 11:30am, a neighbour who had come at her workplace, asked her to accompany her back home.

The suspect said the neighbour did not tell her what had happened. The woman said she only learnt later that there was a plan to lynch her over claims that she had dumped her child in a pit latrine.

"When I arrived at my rental house, I was shocked to find a group of enraged fellow tenants near the pit latrine. It is at that point that I realised my daughter had been retrieved from the pit latrine,” said the girl’s mother.

Edited by Pamela Wanambisi