A sixteen-year-old mother who on Sunday night dumped her one-week-old baby daughter into a pit latrine in Ol Kalou town, Nyandarua County has surrendered to the police.
She was accompanied by her mother to the Ol Kalou Police Station after confessing to her action.
Her mother, 51, said that she visited the daughter on Monday who complained that she was feeling sick.
She advised her to accompany her to their home in Ndunyu Njeru in Kinangop Constituency.
DISTURBED
At home, the young mother appeared to be disturbed and kept to herself.
“I used the motherly approach to interrogate her but she remained adamant. I felt she was hiding something. I again invited her for a motherly chat and that’s when she revealed what was troubling her,” said the mother.
She said she was unaware that her daughter was pregnant and that she had given birth.
“She left home a few months in search of casual jobs in Ol Kalou town. I never knew she was pregnant,” said the mother.
BABY IN HOSPITAL
After the revelation, she accompanied her daughter to the JM Memorial Hospital in Ol Kalou town where the infant was found in stable condition.
“I was very moved; I have decided to take the responsibility of rearing the child. I have visited the police to make the request. I am ready to take custody of my grandchild,” said the mother.
Nyandarua Central Sub-County Deputy Police Commander Florence Karimi said the young mother was remorseful.
CASUAL JOBS
“I have learned that she dumped her child out of desperation. She was in unstable casual jobs that could not sustain the child but she still committed an offence. I have liaised with the children’s department for guidance,” said Ms Karimi.
The infant was discovered by a tenant in the pit latrine who alerted the neighbours and the police.
The police rescued the infant, who was wrapped in a bedsheet then put in a gunny bag that well tied at the top before being dumped into the latrine.