Police are detaining a 21-year-old woman suspected to have given birth and dumped her newborn in a pit latrine in Elgeyo Marakwet County.
The body of the infant was discovered on Thursday evening in a neighbour’s pit latrine.
Brenda Jerotich reportedly delivered the baby and threw it in the pit latrine in Kapsumai Village, Marakwet West constituency.
Shocked locals said such an incident had never happened before in the village.
Cecilia Jelagat, a neighbour described the incident as heartless and asked young women to seek help when they conceive and are unable to raise their babies.
“It is too painful that a mother can be that heartless to a baby. It’s good to inform family and friends when you conceive and you are not ready to raise a baby,” she said.
She asked the police to charge the suspect, saying she was a bad example to other young women.
Kapsumai Village elder John Kaino said it is still unclear why the suspect dumped the baby in the neighbour’s pit latrine.
He said the neighbours became suspicious after she spotted some traces of blood on the surface of the toilet and upon looking inside the toilet, saw the baby.
“It is so painful that a young woman can conceive and kill her baby. We urge them to inform government authorities when they face problems, instead of aborting and dumping innocent babies in a toilet,” the elder said.
Area Chief Sammy Koech advised the complainant, a neighbour, to immediately report the incident to the police.
Mr Koech said the suspect was later apprehended and her baby’s body taken to Kapsowar Mission Hospital mortuary as investigations to establish the circumstances under which the newborn baby was killed were launched.
The suspect is being held at Kapsowar Police station for questioning.
