Three suspects are facing child trafficking charges after a woman allegedly stole her nanny’s newborn baby and sold it to a couple.
Veronica Nyaboke is said to have stolen the child and sold it to Grace Kemunto and her husband Robert Ombati. The trio is jointly facing charges of conspiracy to commit a felony – trafficking a person.
They are also facing a charge of trafficking a person contrary to the Counter-Trafficking In Persons Act of 2010.
The court heard that they committed the offence in Kayole, Nairobi on August 20 jointly with another suspect who is still at large.
The baby’s mother delivered the child at Mama Lucy Kibaki hospital in Kayole on August 20. She returned to her employer’s house, where she slept beside her baby.
When she woke up, the baby was missing. She asked her employer Nyaboke, who told her that the newborn had been taken to Keroka in Kisii County for some rituals.
After waiting for a week for her child to be returned, the nanny took off to Kisii but she could not trace her baby.
She returned to Nairobi and filed a report at Kayole police station.
Investigations led detectives to the couple’s house in Tassia, Embakasi, where Kemunto was arrested while allegedly trying to flee.
Police also arrested her husband Ombati and rescued the baby.
Appearing before Makadara Principal Magistrate Eric Mutunga, the trio denied the charges.
They were released on a bond of Sh3 million without the option of cash bail.
The matter will be mentioned on October 4 before the hearing starts on January 26, 2023.
