Woman who abandoned baby to serve one year probation
What you need to know:
- Priscilla Wangui had on July 31, 2014 left the one-month old baby boy at the Nyeri G4S offices.
- She pleaded guilty before Resident Magistrate John Aringo on August 1, 2014.
- Ms Wangui expressed her gratitude after learning that she would not spend a year in jail.
- She hopes that the person behind her woes will be charged in court.
A Nyeri Court has ordered a woman who had dumped her child at the G4S offices to serve a one year probation sentence.
Priscilla Wangui was charged with neglecting her child, having left the one-month old baby boy at the Nyeri G4S offices on July 31, 2014.
She pleaded guilty before Resident Magistrate John Aringo on August 1, 2014.
On Monday, the magistrate sentenced her accordingly following a report produced before the court by the probation officer.
In her report, Faith Nzivulu recommended the accused be handed a non-custodial sentence since she had acted out of economic hardships.
Ms Nzivulu said that during investigations, Ms Wangui was seen to be very stressed owing to the experiences she had undergone.
UNEMPLOYED
She added that the 27-year-old mother was unemployed and was struggling to feed the one-month-old baby and her other child, a 10-year-old.
She noted that attempts to contact the person said to be the father of the one-month-old baby were futile as his phone was switched off.
The probation officer recommended that Ms Wangui be handed a probation sentence so as to take care of her two children as well as receive counselling.
Speaking after the court’s verdict, Ms Wangui expressed her gratitude after learning that she would not spend a year in jail, adding that her desire was to bring up her children well.
She said that her parents had kicked her out of their family home after she gave birth to two children yet she was not married.
However, she said that after her latest action her family had accepted her back to their Murang’a home, where she will practice farming as a source of income.
Ms Wangui, however, expressed her concern that the father of her second-born child had failed to tell her whether he would support her financially as his phone had been switched off.
“He had even introduced me to his family members in Othaya and I consented to getting married to him. He, however, left me after I gave birth and he was transferred from Meru to G4S offices in Nyeri town,” she said.
She hopes that the person behind her woes will be charged in court so that he can at least support the young child.
HOPES TO GET MARRIED
Although she had earlier maintained that she would never get married, Wangui said once she falls in love again, she would definitely tie the knot.
On August 4, 2014, prosecutor Rhoda Kanyi said that Wangui left the child at the G4S offices on July 31, 2014.
She said the child was wrapped in a parcel addressed to one of the G4S workers, but the child was rescued and placed under the custody of the children’s department after police officers were notified about the case.
Ms Kanyi said that hours after she left the child, Wangui turned herself in at the children’s department claiming to be the child’s mother and was arrested and charged accordingly.
The accused person admitted that the facts stated by the prosecutor were true and, in her mitigation, noted that she had left her child at the G4S offices after suffering from severe hunger.
