Nurse, Kasarani music producer in bitter child custody battle

The child custody battle could end in court after the girl's mother alleged her ex-boyfriend did not sire the minor. [Courtesy]

A bitter child custody battle pitting a foreign-based Kenyan nurse against her former boyfriend has confounded law enforcement authorities.

On Wednesday, June 23 the little girl’s father, 36, filed a missing person’s report at Sunton Police Station in Kasarani, Nairobi under the OB number 07/23/06/2021.

It later emerged that the pupil,7, had been picked from school by a person known to the child – her maternal uncle, police said.

The child’s father, a Nairobi-based gospel music producer, accused his ex-girlfriend and the mother of the child, 28, of conspiring with her kinsmen to “steal” the baby.

Judy Ngeti, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations Officer probing the matter, told The Standard police have since obtained custody of the child.

“It would be unsafe to disclose the minor’s whereabouts, but what I can confirm is that she is safe,” said Ngeti.

According to the investigator, a paternity dispute could arise after the girl’s mother, who works as a nurse in Turkey, alleged her ex-lover had no right to claim custody of the minor because he “wasn’t the girl’s biological father”. This allegation could end up in court, where a DNA test could be ordered.

“The [child’s] mother claims an Administration Police officer based in Mandera is the baby’s biological father,” said Ngeti, stating the woman’s statement will be subjected to interrogation.

According to the DCI officer, surveillance camera recordings showed the minor being picked from school in Kasarani by one of her uncles on Wednesday evening.

Ngeti said the girl’s father was alerted when the child was picked from school, and that his claim that the baby went missing was under investigation.

The girl’s parents entered into a relationship in 2014, but would go separate ways thereafter. The relationship, however, yielded a child, whose paternity is now under probe.

Police say the girl’s father was informed, through SMS, that she had been picked from school at 4:30pm. The sender of the message had a foreign cellphone number.

The girl’s mother, who is in Turkey, would later say she was the sender of the message, and that she reached the minor’s father using a foreign contact because he had blocked her Kenyan cellphone line.

“[As the child’s mother], I alerted the school that I had sent someone to pick her on my behalf. I also informed the child’s father. I’m wondering why he alleged the baby had gone missing,” she said.

The woman said her efforts to settle the child custody row with her ex-partner have been futile.

“He often refuses to meet or speak with me every time I look for him while in Kenya,” she said.

According to her, the minor’s father took the girl to his ancestral home in Kakamega, where the 7-year-old stayed with her paternal grandmother.

The girl’s father claimed he has single-handedly raised the child after her mother abandoned her upon securing a nursing job in a foreign country in 2016.