Nyeri nurse arrested over child theft allegations
Nyeri Central OCPD Kioko Muinde. A nurse spent the night at the Nyeri Central Police Station after she was accused of colluding with her house help and planning to steal a baby. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The nurse was was accused of hiring a house girl to pretend she was pregnant so she could steal a child from the hospital.
- When questioned , the house girl accused the nurse of hiring her to pretend she was pregnant.
- But the nurse says she did not know the house girl was faking the pregnancy, and had even planned to take her to the hospital for an ultrasound.
A nurse at Nyeri County Referral Hospital spent a night at the Nyeri Central Police Station after residents accused her of conspiring to steal a baby from the facility.
The nurse was accused of hiring a house girl, aged 20, to pretend she is pregnant so she could help to steal a baby at the hospital.
ACCOSTED?
She was arrested and escorted to the police station by the irate residents.
The girl is said to have stuffed clothes under her belly before residents accosted her.
The nurse told journalists that a colleague from the county hospital referred the house girl to her and she had only employed her for one week.
“I noticed she was pregnant but she would never allow me to touch her. And I was about to take her to hospital and was in the process of booking her for an ultrasound but the hospital was fully booked until Tuesday,” she said.
“I have just gotten off my duty and found clothes in a polythene bag. I am shocked because I believed she was actually pregnant,” she said.
FEAR
Residents in the area said they feared taking pregnant women to the referral hospital for fear their babies could be stolen or swapped.
“We are very worried. I don’t think anyone can take a pregnant wife to the referral hospital. We are not sure of their safety with what we just witnessed,” said Mr James Karanja, a resident of Kamakwa at the outskirts of Nyeri Town.
Another resident said once the police were called in, the house girl said she had been hired to pretend she was pregnant so the nurse could steal a child at the hospital.
“This is proof that these child thefts have been occasioned by the nurses who are supposed to be taking care of newborn babies and their mothers,” said the resident.
At the scene, residents found documents that included an ultrasound that indicated clinic visits scheduled for every second of the month until the end of the gestation period.
But Nyeri Town OCPD Muinde Kioko said they have not received any reports of a missing child from the hospital or from any patient.
