Death sentence for man who killed baby ‘born out of wedlock’
A 30-year-old man who killed a child he claimed was born by his wife out of wedlock has been sentenced to death by a Nairobi court.
Justice Nicholas Ombija convicted Peter Kinyua Mwangi for the murder of four-month-old Miriam Muthoni whose body was retrieved from a pit latrine in Kyang’ombe Village in Embakasi on April 22, 2009.
Kinyua confronted her wife on the material day accusing her of unfaithfulness.
“The deceased was in good health and was sleeping with her mother when the accused came in and claimed the wife had given birth to a genie,” Justice Ombija said.
The court heard that although the accused used to drink, that night he was sober.
After killing the child, Kinyua told his wife to forget the child as they would later have their own, the court heard.
A mob then attempted to lynch him but he was rescued by security officers.
UNFAITHFUL
Kinyua was a turn boy of a lorry and was on a three-day off when the incident occurred.
“There was a power blackout and the couple fought in the dark… the accused later told his wife he had thrown a rat in the pit latrine,” the judge said.
The court heard that there was no available evidence that the child had been born out of wedlock as alleged but the accused quarreled with his wife claiming she was unfaithful.
“He placed the wife on top of the baby and slept on top of them; he threw the baby thrice on the floor and strangled her,” the judge said.
The judge said the prosecution had proved its case “beyond reasonable doubt”.
Mr Kinyua has a previous record from Karaka Police Station where he had been charged for giving false information.
In mitigation he said he was sorry for the loss of his daughter and that the time he had spent in remand had made him choose to live a decent life. He has 14 days to appeal.