A Nyamira court has sentenced a woman to one-year house arrest for aborting her 7-month-old pregnancy.
35-year-old Linet Kemunto confessed to procuring the abortion using a concoction of paracetamol and tea leaves on Saturday at Bonyengwe II sub-location in Nyamira North.
A police report indicated that she thereafter dumped the fetus into River Eyaka.
Appearing before Senior Resident Magistrate Cyprian Waswa on Monday, Ms Kemunto pleaded for leniency saying she was living in abject poverty and that before she procured the abortion, she was kicked out of her home with all her five children by her abusive husband.
She noted that she is an orphan and that one of her children has special needs. The court also heard that she was taking care of her teenage daughter’s four-month-old child.
Ms Kemunto pleaded with the Magistrate to forgive her as she is the only person her children and grandchild depend on.
On Tuesday, after a probation report was filed, the court convicted Ms Kemunto to serve her sentence at home. She will also be required to undergo a psychiatric examination.
