Woman in baby’s murder case now blames husband
A 23-year-old woman charged with the murder of her newborn has implicated her husband in the case.
Ms Mercy Njeri told Justice Teresia Matheka of the High Court in Nyeri that it was her husband, Mr Michael Ngatia, who strangled the five-day-old baby before escaping to an unknown destination.
The mother of two said the husband did not want another child.
“He was not happy after we got the second born and he did not want the third child. He was a drunkard and was using drugs like bhang and he was selling the same,” Ms Njeri told the court while denying the charges.
The court heard that the couple killed the child on April 27, 2016 at 8pm while on their way home from Kirinyaga to Karatina and dumped the body at Ragati forest where it was collected by police.
STRANGULATION
It was Ms Njeri who took the police to the scene of the crime, where the baby’s body was found in a polythene bag.
She said Mr Ngatia, who was a casual worker in a local construction site, escaped after the incident and has never been traced.
Dr Stephen Wang’ombe of Karatina District Hospital, who conducted the postmortem, said the baby died after strangulation.
“The findings were that the body had external injuries around the neck and lungs were collapsed. The cause of death was strangulation and there was a piece of cloth around the neck,” said Dr Wang’ombe as he produced the postmortem report as an exhibit.
The case was adjourned to February 29 when Dr Richu Mwenda, a psychiatrist who ascertained that Ms Njeri was fit to stand trial in the murder case, will testify.