A woman in Kisumu County has been sentenced to three years’ probation after court found out that she was mentally unstable to stand trial.
This was after she admitted killing her six months old son, skinning his leg and removing his eye.
Kisumu court handed her the sentence on condition that she continues with the mandatory psychiatric treatment which she had been placed at the Mathare National and Teaching Hospital.
The woman (name withheld) according to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions had pleaded guilty to the murder charge which was then reduced to manslaughter following a plea agreement.
High court judge Justice Omido accepted the plea and handed the non-custodial sentence as confirmed by the medical reports that she was mentally ill this could not stand trial.
May 10, 2024, in Kanyaranga Village, Seme Sub-County, Kisumu County, the woman was spotted physically assaulting her infant son, then just six months. Her father Manasseh Onyango and a relative she was staying with tried to intervene but the woman fled into the maize plantation while carrying the infant.
Reports indicated that she did not returned home that night only to appear the following day carrying the child, who was unresponsive.
Authorities were notified and upon rushing to the scene they confirmed that The child had died and took the accused into custody.
The court heard that a post-mortem was carried out on the dead infant at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital and the pathologist revealed that the baby had suffered multiple severe injuries, including the removal of the left eye, burn-like injuries to the right foot, complete skin removal from the left foot, facial swelling, and signs of strangulation.
Having considered the nature of the offense committed, the prosecution highlighted the effect of mental illness and a s a result emphasized the importance of having the convict undergo medical and psychiatric care, highlighting the seriousness of mental health conditions in criminal cases.
While mitigating on behalf of the convict, the defense counsel Okoth Oluoch informed the court that the accused was not of sound mind during the incident.
He further added that the convict was remorseful and having undergone psychiatric treatment while in custody, she had tremendously improved.
