This archive report was first published on 24 September 2019.
On September 16, 2019, a dramatic scene unfolded in Njiru, a suburb 20 kilometers away from Nairobi's Central Business District. A nine-month-old baby was left alone in a house, crying uncontrollably due to hunger and cold.
Nikita Kendi Mureithi, the baby's mother, was later found at a nightclub in the CBD after a three-day search. She was arrested and charged with intentionally abandoning the child.
According to the charge particulars, Mureithi's neighbours were forced to break into her house to rescue the baby, who was found hungry and cold. The baby was rushed to the hospital and treated.
Mureithi claimed that she was drugged by a client and left for dead, which led to her prolonged absence from the child. She told the court that she had left the baby locked in the room, intending to return soon to breastfeed, but things went awry.
She was released on a Sh 20,000 cash bail pending hearing on November 27 at the Makadara Chief Magistrate's court.
