A woman reportedly set her house ablaze and locked her two children who were burnt to death in Kajiado, Kenya.
Neighbours said the woman had said that she was mentally troubled following her husband’s decision to marry a second wife.
Speaking to members of the press, one of the neighbours Susan Murunga claimed that the mother of two had confessed to her regarding her intentions to leave her husband.
“She told me that she had packed her things and was going to leave her husband. I told her that these wrangles happen often in marriages, but leaving is not the solution,” Murunga said.
She added that she encouraged the woman to stay and iron things out with her husband.
Murunga, who is well known as Mama Janey, added that she noticed that the house was on fire and one of the two children was screaming her name as she cried for help.
“Shantel was shouting my name seeking help. She kept screaming, ‘Mama Janey please come help me’, but I could not assist because the door was locked with a huge padlock,” the neighbour said.
Murunga added that the bedroom door was locked and that she could smell a gas leakage.
In deep sorrow, the neighbour regretted that she was alone and could not find a solution to the glaring tragedy.
Two other neighbours, who went to witness the happenings, also condemned the woman’s actions, saying that the innocent children did not deserve to experience the painful death as a result of the parent’s wrangles.
“Maafa ya hawa watoto waili wamekufa bila hatia. bila kujua chochote, juu take an ile mzozo walikuwa nayo. Mimi kama mzazi hiyo kitu imeniuma sana. (The children died over something they didn’t even know about and as a parent, I am deeply saddened by what happened),” Rose Mwenda said.
“Mama na baba waligombana sasa tumepoteza maisha ya watoto innocent,” Joshua Munyua, a member of the nyumba kumi initiative, noted.
The children aged 2 and 10 years were burnt beyond recognition in the inferno that razed down the whole house before the intervention of neighbours or the firefighters.
According to Susan, the neighbour, the kids’ mother stepped out after lighting up the fire but went back into the house after a second thought.
The woman was rescued by neighbours who arrived at the scene during the inferno and was rushed to hospital having sustained severe injuries.
The woman is said to have sustained 50 per cent first-degree burns and is now receiving medical attention.
She is going to be charged with the murder of her two children through arson and attempted suicide.
The Kajiado Central Police Commander David Loronyok spoke to the media via phone, confirming that the bodies of the two deceased children were taken to the Kajiado Referral Hospital.
He also confirmed that the mother of the two victims is admitted to the same hospital, getting medical attention after sustaining serious burns.
The police commander also said that the woman will be arraigned in court once she has recovered.
