Mum gets six years for murder

By Paul Muhoho - ThePeople.co.ke

September 5, 2013

A young housewife who killed her deaf and dumb son to save her marriage from collapse four years ago has been sentenced to six years imprisonment. Alice Njoki, 27, killed her five-year old physically-challenged son, following constant marital differences with her husband after he learnt she had lied about being childless when they started living as man and wife.

Njoki sneaked to her mother’s Nyambari homestead in Limuru, Kiambu County on June 25, 2009 and took away the hapless Peter Mugo. None of the relatives, including her mother who was living with the child, knew about her visit. The child’s body was discovered in a pit latrine a few days later and villagers suspected she could have been involved in the gruesome murder.

They irate mob flushed her out of her house and clobbered her senseless, demanding to know what had happened to the boy as her devastated husband, David Njoroge, watched helplessly. He rushed to Tigoni Police Station to report the matter. Njoki was taken to Tigoni Health Centre and later transferred to Kiambu District Hospital, where she was admitted for two weeks.

This is when she confessed to one of her sisters that she had decided to kill her son because she was scared Njoroge would leave her upon discovering she had concealed his birth before they were married.

Njoroge and Njoki’s siblings yesterday stared in disbelief as High Court Judge Nicholas Ombija said she must suffer custodial punishment for killing an innocent child with the selfish intention of “stabilising her marriage.” Njoki had said that she was young, naïve and not in her right mind when she committed the capital offence.

She claimed she had learnt her lesson the hard way while in prison remand for the last four years and pleaded for leniency. The court rejected her plea and handed her the six-year sentence, saying she never told her husband about the child.

Woman gets six years in prison for murder of son

By Wilfred Ayaga - StandardMedia.co.ke

September 5, 2013

Kiambu, Kenya: A 27-year-old woman who killed her son and dumped his body in a pit latrine will spend six years in prison, the High Court ruled Wednesday.

Justice Nicholas Ombija handed Alice Njoki the sentence after finding her guilty of killing five-year-old Peter Mugure at Nyambari Trading Centre in Kiambu on the night of June 25 and 26, 2009.

The court agreed with the prosecution evidence that on the material day, Njoki killed her son to save her collapsing marriage. According to evidence presented in court, Njoki had hidden the existence of the child from her husband, who, however, came to learn about him a year after their marriage.

Justice Ombija said the prosecution had demonstrated that the desire to save her collapsing marriage was the motive of the murder.

“Having looked at the evidence, I agree that the accused was hiding the child from her husband. The discovery of the child caused friction with her husband. To stabilise the marriage, she killed the child,” the judge said.

Deaf and dumb

The disappearance of Mugure, who was also deaf and dumb, outraged villagers who demanded to know from his mother what had happened to him.

They then forced her to reveal the child’s whereabouts. Her confession subsequently led to the discovery of Mugure’s body by the police.

On the material day, Njoki’s husband, David Njoroge Waweru, had left for church when he arrived and found his wife missing. She arrived a few hours later and started packing her clothes without offering any explanation.

“Despite my protests she continued packing her belongings. The mob at the gate, however, stopped her and demanded to know what had happened to the child. She threatened to commit suicide but the angry mob descended on her with kicks and blows,” her husband told the court.

During the confrontation, Njoki was hit with a blunt object, breaking her leg. A doctor’s report which the accused presented to the court during the defence hearing showed that she had suffered serious injuries following the mob justice. She was admitted to Kiambu District Hospital.

During the case, the prosecution called seven witnesses, including Njoki’s mother, Mary Wangari.

In her evidence, she told the court how she had stayed with Njoki and her child for three years before Njoki got married.

On the material day, she grew suspicious after hearing that the child’s body had been found in a pit latrine.

“I informed the police on the strained relationship between my daughter and her husband,” she told the court. According to the prosecution, it is this information that helped police piece together Njoki’s motive.

The judge disagreed with Njoki’s evidence. “The facts are inconsistent with the innocence of the accused and incapable of providing any other explanation other than guilt,” the judge said.

Mother to serve six years in prison for killing son

The-Star.co.ke

September 5, 2013

A mother has been sentenced to six years in jail for killing her deaf and dumb son.

Alice Njoki, 27, denied killing five-year-old Peter Mugo.

However, evidence presented in court showed that she killed the boy to save her marriage.

The court was told that when Njoki got married to David Njoroge, she did not tell him she had a child out of wedlock. When her husband found out about one year into the marriage, they began quarrelling frequently.

In his judgement, Justice Nicholas Ombija said Njoki decided to kill the child, who was staying with her mother, “to stabilise her marriage”.

Njoki’s siblings, who testified in court, said she went home when their mother was away and picked up the child.

The body was discovered in a pit latrine a few days later.

The villagers suspected Njoki of murder and stormed her house. They beat her and she confessed killing the child.

She sustained a broken leg and other injuries during the beating.

Njoki’s husband went and reported the incident to a police station in Tigoni.

She was later taken to a health centre in Tigoni before being transferred to Kiambu District Hospital where she was admitted for two weeks.

Njoki pleaded with the court for leniency saying she has learnt her lesson behind bars. She has been in prison for about four years.

Njoki said she was young then and was not in her right senses when she committed the offence. Njoki and Njoroge have one daughter.

Alice Njoki was found guilty of killing son.
(Bernard Malonza/ThePeople.co.ke)