• Jobless mother says she was possessed by evil spirits sent by her ex-boyfriend.
• She left a note sayng she had bought funeral cothes and shoes for her children's burial.
Image: GEORGE MURAGE
The family of the four children strangled by their mother in Naivasha is appealing for assistance so they can have a decent burial.
The burial is scheduled for Thursday at the family home in Murangaru, Kinangop, Nyandarua county.
The request came a day after the suspect Beatrice Mwende, 42, was arraigned in a Naivasha court and detained for seven more days to allow police to conclude their investigations. The children were murdered on Saturday.
A psychiatric examination will be ordered before she can take a plea in the murder charge.
The murdered minors have been identified as Melody Warigia (aged eight), Willy Macharia (six) - both students of Milimani Primary School - Samantha Njeri (four) and Whitney Nyambura (two).
Jackson Kimotho, a brother of the suspect, said the postmortem would be performed on Wednesday.
He said it was impossible for the family to give the children the burial they deserve.
“The suspect is my blood sister and the only way we can give respect and show love to these innocent angels is through a decent and befitting send-off,” he said on Tuesday.
Kimotho said they could not afford the high postmortem and burial costs and asked for help.
In a letter left behind, the mother said she had bought clothes and shoes for the children's burials.
“Do not involve my former ex-boyfriend in this burial as he is an evil man who is purely responsible for the deaths of the babies that I loved so much,” she said.
Kimotho’s phone number is 0714-701272 where donations may be sent.
The murder of the four came as area leaders expressed their concern over increasing murders and suicides after two men took their lives in separate incidents in Naivasha.
The body of a middle-aged man was found hanging in lodgings in Naivasha town hours after he had checked in.
In Mirera estate, another man hanged himself, a week after an unsuccessful attempt.
Former Nacada chairman and Naivasha MP John Mututho termed the trend of murders and suicide worrying.
He said depression in the wake of mass job losses and use of drugs and liquor could have contributed to the deaths.
“In the last couple of days we have lost four people including four innocent minors," he said. "There is need to keenly address the issue of depression in society."
(Edited by V. Graham)