This archive report was first published on 2 July 2020.
On Thursday morning, the community of Kinangop came together to bid farewell to four siblings who lost their lives in a tragic incident in Naivasha. The siblings, Melody Warigia (8yrs), Willy Macharia (6yrs), Samantha Njeri (4yrs), and Whitney Nyambura (2yrs), were allegedly poisoned by their mother, Beatrice Mwende.
According to reports, the bodies of the four children were found locked in their house near Naivasha High School on Sunday afternoon. Their mother, who is currently in police custody, had fled to the neighboring Kayole Estate.
During the burial, the coffins of the four siblings were laid together side by side in the same grave, a poignant reminder of the tragic loss of life. The eulogies, which were short and to the point, attributed the cause of death to 'unclear circumstances.'
Beatrice Mwende, the mother of six, had previously blamed evil spirits and her former lover for the heinous act. In court, she claimed that she had been possessed by evil spirits and did not know what she was doing. She also alleged that her boyfriend had been ordering her to do 'queer' things, and that she was possessed by evil spirits on the 26th of every month.
The case will be heard on July 6, 2020, after police sought to hold Mwende for seven more days to conduct a mental assessment before charging her with murder.
