This archive report was first published on 8 May 2020.
Published on May 8, 2020, a heart-wrenching story of a mother's desperation to feed her children shook the nation. Peninah Bahati, a 36-year-old widow, was left with seven children after her husband Kaingu Charo was killed in June last year.
Her four-month-old daughter Mary, who had become an international symbol of her mother's plight, has now succumbed to stomach and chest complications at Coast General Hospital.
According to Prischah Momanyi, a neighbour who had been supporting Bahati, Mary started developing stomach pains last Friday and her condition only deteriorated despite treatment at a local clinic.
"On Sunday, we took her to Coast General and came back but she was admitted the next day when we took her back," Momanyi said, adding that the child had bloody diarrhoea, a fever, and was crying constantly.
Women leaders, including Mombasa Woman Representative Asha Mohammed, visited Bahati at her home in Mleji village and later at the hospital to offer their condolences.
"It seems Baby Mary was an angel being used by God to help Peninah," said Momanyi, her voice weak and sad.
The children's rights activist Topister Juma has taken over preparations for the burial to support Momanyi, who had been working hard to help Bahati and is now exhausted.
The body of Baby Mary will be buried next to her father's grave in Mariakani, with only a few people travelling with the body for the funeral.
