This archive report was first published on 30 June 2020.
On June 27, 2020, police in Naivasha discovered the lifeless bodies of four children, Melody Warigia (8), Willy Macharia (6), Samantha Njeri (4), and Whitney Nyambura (2), who were found dead on their beds.
According to the police, the children's mother, Beatrice Mwende Kimothoi, 42, was arrested and charged with murder. In a shocking twist, Mwende claimed that she was possessed by evil spirits and did not know what she was doing when she killed her children.
Speaking before her arraignment in court, Mwende said that she had been experiencing episodes of possession by evil spirits, which would take control of her on the 26th day of every month. She claimed that on the night of the murders, her boyfriend, who she had parted ways with the previous year, took control of her and ordered her to strangle her children.
Mwende, who worked with an NGO in Naivasha town, pleaded for mercy, saying she was not in control of her actions and was hoping that the incident was a bad dream.
Corporal Samuel Wambugu told Naivasha Senior Resident Magistrate Yusuf Baraza that the police had not conducted a mental assessment on the suspect nor a post-mortem on the four bodies.
Mwende will appear in court on July 6, 2020.
