Woman arrested for stabbing son

A woman who allegedly stabbed her son with a kitchen knife and seriously wounded him has been arrested by police in Kirinyaga County.

She was picked up over the weekend and taken to Wang'uru Police Station. Area chief Mr James Kazina said the woman would face assault charge after police were through with investigations.

"We have arrested the woman and she will soon be arraigned in court," he said. The seven-year-old boy is still nursing his wounds following the Tuesday attack which triggered protests from residents.

Following the attack at Maisha-Kamili slums in Ngurubani town, angry mob confronted the mother baying for her blood. However she escaped death narrowly when she fled from the mob.

Witnesses said the boy went to visit her aunt on Tuesday evening after school without the knowledge of her mother.

When he returned home at around 6.30pm, her mother ran amok and grabbed him by the neck.

Accusing her son of visiting his aunt without her permission, the woman took a kitchen knife and stabbed him in the left leg as he screamed for help.

Neighbours responded quickly and rescued the boy and took him to a private clinic for first aid. The boy was later taken to Kimbimbi Sub-district Hospital for treatment.

As residents got wind of what had happened they raided a rental house of the boy's mother threatening to exert revenge on the boy. But the mother managed to escape through the nearby bush.