Shock as woman kills her children and dies by suicide

Residents at the home of Veronica Anyango in Kong'onge village, Kayoo Sub Location in Rachuonyo West Sub-county, on May 31, 2026. [James Omoro, Standard]

Residents of Kong'onge village in Homa Bay County are in shock after a 30-year-old woman killed her two children and died by suicide over plans by her husband to marry a second wife.

Veronica Anyango’s body was found dangling from a tree in her home in Kayoo Sub Location, Rachuonyo West Sub-county on Sunday.

The woman reportedly waited until other family members had left the home and called her four children into the house before she stepped out and looked door.

She poured petrol on the house and set it ablaze.

Anyango then took a rope, climbed a tree within the compound, and hanged herself.

Neighbours who responded to the children’s distress call broke down the door and managed to rescue two.

However, a one–year-old boy and a three-year-old girl were burnt beyond recognition.

Kayoo sub-location assistant chief Alfred Mbara said Anyango reportedly took the action after she suspected that her husband was planning to marry a second wife.

“The couple had domestic issues. I have been informed that the woman suspected that her husband was planning to marry a second wife but she did not want to live in a polygamous family,” Mbara said.

Some neighbours said she had at one time dared her husband to marry a second wife.

They said Anyango had vowed that she would not allow her children to be taken care of by another woman.

"She said she would go with all her children because she believed a co-wife would frustrate them," a resident said.

Millicent Ochieng, a resident, said she thought Anyango was speaking on phone when the house caught fire.

"I saw smoke from the house. I saw Veronica and thought she was on phone. Little did I know that she had died by suicide," Ochieng said.

She is among neighbours who responded to the children’s distress call.

"We managed to open the door and two children ran out. We had no idea that the other two were still inside," he said.

Police from Kendu Bay Police Station removed the three bodies to Homa Bay County Teaching and Referral Hospital mortuary for postmortem.