A man passes through Kumfunje Bridge at Maraka village in Webuye. [Duncan Ocholla, Standard]

A 24-year-old woman dumped her two children into River Nzoia in Lugari Constituency, Kakamega County last night seconds before jumping into the river with a third child on her back. 

The woman who has been identified as Winnie, left her sister’s house where she had been staying at 9 pm duping her children that she was taking them to nearby shops. It is when they got to the bridge that she asked the children to close their eyes before pushing them one after the other into the roaring mass of water moments after taking the same leap to her death.

One girl survived after clutching on to a branch a distance from where she plunged into the water. The standard two girl explained the horror when she called for help holding on a weak branch.

“She grabbed our hands and jumped in the river. I reach in the middle of the river and got hold of a stick and held on to it. I was crying,” said the little girl in tears.

According to Alice Magoma, the sister of Winnie, she had come to stay with her after some small disagreement with her husband. 

“I didn’t see any problems with her. She had been staying with me for about a week and the husband even came to pick her up yesterday but they disagreed over a certain text message. I asked him to come another day when she has cooled down,” explained Alice.

Alice explains that her sister was Okay in the evening, relaxing and chatting. She had left her to cook supper only to come back and find her and the kids not present in the house.

“That’s the last time I saw my sister. She didn’t tell me anything. She didn’t tell me about her plan. I thought she was going to sleep at the neighbour’s place. I was wrong.”

The girl who survived was found by Joseph Maleso, the chairman of the local  Nyumba Kumi neighbourhood watch, who took her to his home, gave her some tea and later took her to the police station where they recorded a statement. 
The bodies of the woman and her two children are yet to be found.