Woman poisons son aged five, attempts suicide in Nairobi

A woman is fighting for her life in hospital after she swallowed a poisonous concoction in Hazina estate, Nairobi.

This was after she had also forced her son to swallow the same. The son aged five died, police said. Police said the woman aged 23 used a concoction from beauty products to kill the son.

She then swallowed the same before the neighbours found her struggling in the house. They were both rushed to Balozi Hospital, where the child was pronounced dead on arrival.

The mother was transferred to Kenyatta Hospital for specialized treatment. The products used for the murder and suicide attempt were recovered, police said.

The motive of the incident is yet to be known. Police said they are waiting for the woman to recover before they know the next steps to be taken.

Elsewhere in Kisasi, Kitui County, the body of a two year old boy was found floating in a well in a homestead after drowning. The boy was playing when he drowned in the well on March 31, police and neighbours said.

The body was moved to the mortuary pending investigations.

In the same area, one Nguli Musambi, 58 drowned in River Kooma while trying to cross from Bosnia area towards the Mbusyani shopping centre. The body of the deceased was found floating 200 metres along the said river after being swept by the raging waters.

Members of the public retrieved the body before police arrived and moved the body to Kitui County Referral Hospital mortuary awaiting postmortem.

Meanwhile, two cases of suicide were reported separately in a worrying trend, police said. One was reported in Gatunga Market, Tharaka Nithi one Pius Gitonga Nyaga was found dead after suicide.

In Narumoru, Nyeri County, the body of Ruth Wangui Mwangi, 65 was found hanging from the roof rafter in the store with a sisal rope tied around her neck.

Cases of suicide have been on the rise in the country amid calls for action to address the trend.