Police reveal how boy, 3, met his death

Linet Wandalo appears before a judge in Mombasa on May 21, 2018. She is accused of killing her son. PHOTO | BRIAN OCHARO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Preliminary police investigations revealed that the woman killed the child after she refused to go back to Kakamega.
  • The woman had told the police that her child had accidently stabbed himself while playing with a surgical blade.

A 33-year-old woman was on Monday charged with killing her three-year-old son after being asked by her husband to return to her rural home in Kakamega.

Linet Wandalo - who appeared before Mombasa High Court Judge Dorah Chepkwony - was however not required to plead to the charge until she undergoes a mental assessment.

Ms Wandalo is accused of stabbing her child to death on May 10 in Migadini, Changamwe constituency in Mombasa.

SCHOOL

The court heard that the suspect stabbed the minor on the left chest using a surgical blade while her husband was at work.

The minor succumbed to injuries while being taken to Port Reitz District Hospital.

Preliminary police investigations revealed that the woman killed the child after she refused to go back to Butere in Kakamega.

The police say that the couple had quarrelled on May 9 over whether the woman should go back home to Butere where the child was supposed to resume his studies.

"The couple had disagreed the previous night before the incident and the suspect had promised to kill herself and the son," the report says.

MONEY
Ms Wandalo demanded money from her husband first before agreeing to leave.

But the husband promised to fulfil that later, saying he was still settling a loan he had borrowed.

"She did not liked the idea of travelling back home unless she was given Sh50,000 to start a business at the village," the police report adds.

On various occasions, the woman is said to have refused to go back to Butere, claiming their house is haunted.

The man said his wife was supposed to have gone back to Butere immediately the school re-opened, but she extended the holiday because she was also visiting her sister in Nairobi.

And she also wanted to live with her husband in Mombasa but the latter insisted that she must return so that their child can continue his education.

MOTIVE

The police found two surgical blades in the house, one soaked in blood on the floor and the other on the bedroom window.

"The suspect said if she and the child were to return home as the husband had insisted, then her relationship with him was over," the report indicates.

The woman had told the police that her child had accidently stabbed himself with the surgical blade while playing with it.

But after conducting investigations, the police concluded that "as per the postmortem report, a three-year-old cannot stab himself that deep and remain silent without crying for help".

"The mere fact that the husband had not seen the blades in the house before is an indication that they were brought in the house by the suspect with a purpose," the report says.

REMAND
The police said that from the postmortem report and the witness statement, there is concrete evidence that there was intention to commit a crime.

State counsel Alice Ocholla asked the court to have the suspect remanded at Shimo La Tewa women prison pending a psychiatric report.

"The suspect be remanded in custody and be assigned an advocate before pleading to the charge," Justice Chepkwony directed.

The woman had been in custody for a week. The case will be heard on June 6.