Shock has engulfed residents of Mautuma area in Lugari Constituency, Kakamega County after a woman drowned herself and her children in River Nzoia on Monday night.
The 24-year-old woman identified as Winnie is said to have left her sister’s house where she had been staying at around 9 pm duping her three children that she was taking them to the shop. She instead took them to Makutano bridge at the border of Kakamega and Bungoma counties where she asked the children to close their eyes before pushing two of them into the river.
The woman thereafter jumped into the river with the third child, a two-year-old boy, on her back.
One girl aged 7 survived the ordeal after clutching on to a branch and calling for help; the standard two pupil at Mbaya primary school was later found by Joseph Maleso, the chairman of the Nyumba Kumi who took her to his home, gave her some tea to warm her up and later took her to the police station where they recorded a statement.
“Mum lied to us that she was taking us to a shop and she took us to River Nzoia and told us to close our eyes. It was me and my brother and sister(aged four). She grabbed our hands and jumped in the river. I reached in the middle of the river and got hold of a stick and lurched to it. I was crying,” recounted the little girl in tears.
The woman’s sister, Alice Magoma, said Winnie had come to stay with her after a disagreement with her husband.
“I didn’t see any problems with her. She had been staying with me for about a week and the husband even came to pick her up yesterday but they disagreed over a certain text message. The husband wanted Winnie to explain the message but she was not ready. I asked him to come another day when she has cooled down,” said Alice.
She added that her sister seemed okay in the evening, relaxing and chatting. Alice said she asked her sister to prepare supper as she left to pick some items in the neighborhood but when she returned, Winnie and her children had left.
“That’s the last time I saw my sister. She didn’t tell me anything. She didn’t tell me about her plan. I thought she was going to sleep at the neighbour’s place. I was wrong.”
The bodies of the woman and her two children were yet to be found as of Tuesday. The husband, Victor Mulama, arrived at the scene on Monday; he was overwhelmed by grief and fainted, and he could not talk to the press.
