Kidnapped 'pregnant' woman was not expectant

Saida Abdulahman, who was allegedly abducted while pregnant, at the Mombasa Law Courts. 8. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Medic tells Mombasa court that coast woman was not pregnant at the time of alleged abduction.

A 20-year-old Mombasa woman who claimed she was abducted while pregnant in 2018 and lost her baby in the hands of her kidnappers was, in fact, not expectant, a medical report reveals.

Dr Nafsa Mohamed told a Mombasa court yesterday that the woman was not pregnant at the time of the alleged abduction and that she has never been expectant.

The medic was testifying in a case in which Ms Saida Abdulahman Baraka and her husband, Mr Mohamed Abdulahman, are charged with giving false information to police.

The witness said the tests conducted using the suspect’s urine and the ultrasound carried out twice on her gave negative results for pregnancy.

“From the above finding, a conclusion was drawn that the suspect was not pregnant and has not been pregnant. There has been no delivery. There are no signs of physical abuse and injury on the patient,” Dr Mohamed said.

At the time, Ms Baraka's concerned family members had said she was eight months pregnant when she disappeared on September 20, 2018.

According to her charge sheet, when she re-appeared, she told the doctor that the criminals performed an abortion on her.

In her reports to police, Ms Baraka claimed that the criminals drugged her before the abortion. She said she realised she was no longer pregnant when she regained consciousness.

The woman had claimed her abductors waylaid and grabbed her as she went to board a Malindi-bound matatu at Buxton in Mombasa.

The court has been informed that the woman was to connect to Lamu for a midday flight from Malindi International Airport when she was allegedly kidnapped by six women.

“The suspect did not exhibit signs of physical injuries on the shoulder, ears, arms, back, chest and thighs, no markings on the skin and anywhere on the body indicating physical injury or of being tied. Birth canal walls were intact. The cervix did not have any markings of instrumentation or a delivery having taken place," Dr Mohamed told Mombasa Senior Resident Magistrate Christine Ogweno.

The woman was later found in Nairobi outside Pumwani mosque.

According to the prosecution, the woman knew the information she had provided to the health provider was false, intending thereby to cause Dr Mohamed to record a medical report in her favour.

On his part, Mr Abdulahman is accused of lying to the police that his pregnant wife had been abducted.

The man allegedly informed Police Constable Cyrus Mbugua that his wife went missing after she had informed her mother Hadija Bwana that she was taking a flight to Lamu county.

The suspects have since denied the offences they are accused of committing on September 20 and 24, 2018, at CPGH and Makupa police station respectively.

The suspects are out on a Sh100,000 bond each with one surety of a similar amount.

The hearing continues on March 18.