The 38-year-old woman is accused of stealing a girl from her mother, who fell asleep during a crusade in Nakuru Caroline Achieng denied charges of child theft, saying that she was unwell and was detained at Lang’ata Women’s Prison pending a bail hearing Police officers in Kayole arrested her after her neighbours reported her after she failed to explain where she had gotten the five-year-old girl....CONTINUE READING
A 38-year-old woman accused of stealing a five-year-old girl during Prophet David Owuor’s Crusade last week in Nakuru has been arraigned.
Appearing before Makadara Senior Principal Magistrate Mary Njagi, Caroline Achieng was charged with stealing the child, contrary to Section 174 (1) of the Penal Code.
Achieng is accused of committing the offence on Saturday, March 16, in Nakuru county. According to court documents, the minor’s mother, who is also a member of Prophet David Owuor’s Repentance and Holiness Church Embu branch, had travelled with the child to the Nakuru event when she found out that her daughter was missing.
An alarm was raised, and the matter was reported to the crusade’s organiser’s desk, who made numerous announcements about the missing child.
The report shows that those present during the crusade were requested to report to the security desk or take the missing girl to the desk.
The crusade ended without the child being found, prompting the organisers and the mother to report the matter at Kaptembwa Police Station.
Police also circulated a missing child’s report on Monday, March 18. Two days later, hawk-eyed neighbours spotted the baby at Acheing’s residence in Masimba, Kayole.
After she failed to explain coherently, public members escorted her to Masimba Police Post. It was discovered that the woman had previously been charged with stealing a baby, even as she struggled to explain how she got the girl under her care.
The Nairobi police officers reached out to their counterparts in Nakuru to locate the woman who had filed a missing child’s report to help identify the baby in Achieng’s possession.
During the investigation, the child’s mother informed the police that she had fallen asleep during the crusade and discovered the child missing upon waking.
Achieng refuted the allegations of wrongdoing before Senior Principal Magistrate Mary Njagi, citing her serious illness.
She was detained at Lang’ata Women’s Prison until April 18, pending the court’s consideration of bail and bond terms after receiving a probation officer’s report.
Several of Achieng’s neighbours and a Nyumba Kumi official, who interrogated her on suspicion of child theft, are witnesses in the case.
In November, 2023, a housekeeper, 26, was jailed for five years after she was found guilty of stealing a one-year-old baby she was tasked with taking care of…CONTINUE READING>>
