Househelp in court for stealing child at DoD

A househelp who allegedly stole a child under her care at the Department of Defense (DoD) has been charged in court.

Esther Faith Omonya, 23, was presented before Kibera Chief Magistrate  Anne Mwangi on Tuesday and denied the charges.

The charge sheet stated that on September 3,2024 at DoD staff quarters in Kilimani, Dagoretti sub county, Nairobi she fraudulently took the child identified as FK aged two.

Court papers stated that the child's mother, Fedilia Omuse Atyang, 33, who is a medical worker at the Ministry of Defense, left the child with the accused on the material day.

Atyang told police that at around 11.00 am she called Omonya to inquire how they were fairing on.

According to the police report Omonya informed her boss that the child was well and she was preparing to feed him.

"The complainant continued with her work until 17.00 hours when she received a call from her neighbor by the name Mary Matto inquiring about the house girl (Omonya) since she saw the complainant's older daughter still in school uniform at such late hours which was unusual," reads the police report.

The police report indicated that the complainant tried to reach Omonya but her phone was switched off.

The complainant rushed back to the house and found her older daughter  outside and the house locked.

Atyang tried to trace the househelp and her son (the missing child) in vain. She discovered that clothes belonging to the househelp were also missing from the house.

After informing her husband, Atyang decided to report the matter to Kilimani Police Station.

A search was mounted and it was established that the househelp had traveled to their rural home in Lukhakha where she was apprehended by police.

The police were informed by the public that they saw a suspicious woman  alighting from a Nairobi bound bus carrying a child.

"Police contacted the complainant (who is the child's mother) after taking them to a local police station and he was reunited with his mother. They both recorded statements at the police station," police report says.

Magistrate Mwangi ordered that the accused be released on a bond of Sh200,000 with provision of one contact person and her probation report be presented in court.

The case will be mentioned on September 16.