Woman charged with stabbing three-year-old son to death
A 33-year-old woman was yon Monday charged with killing her three-year-old son. Ms Linet Wandalo, who appeared at the Mombasa High Court, was, however, not required to plead to the charge until a mental assessment is carried out on her.
She was accused of stabbing the minor to death on May 10 in Migadini, Changamwe constituency.
The court heard that the woman stabbed the son in the chest while the husband had gone to work. The child succumbed to injuries while being taken to Portreitz hospital.
According to preliminary police investigations, the woman killed the boy after she refused to go back to their rural home upon being requested by the husband.
The police said the couple had quarrelled over whether the woman should go back home to Butere in Kakamega, where the boy was supposed to resume his second term studies after a two-month holiday in Mombasa.
DISAGREEMENT
“The couple had disagreed the night before the incident and the suspect had promised to kill herself and the son,” police said.
The woman is said to have demanded Sh50,000 from her husband before agreeing to travel home, but the husband promised to send the money later, saying he was still settling a loan he had borrowed, the court heard.
“She did not like the idea of travelling back home unless she was given the money to start a business in the village,” the police report said.
State counsel Alice Ocholla asked the court to have the suspect remanded at Shimo La Tewa Women Prison, pending the psychiatric report.
The judge ruled that the woman be remanded and assigned a lawyer. The case will be heard on June 6.