Residents of Ruai, Nairobi County, have been left in shock after a househelp allegedly poisoned her employer’s four-year old daughter over dispute regarding delayed salary payment.
According to Anne Wanjiru, the mother of the deceased, said they had agreed with the girl to be paid on third of every new month, but on Friday, the househelp became aggressive, demanding her payment before the agreed date.
Wanjiru said, “Our agreement was that she was to get Ksh 6000 salary from at least date the third, because that was when she began her work. On Friday, she called me and demanded I send her salary. When I explained that I had not been paid, she directed me to pick my child from a neighbor as she was quitting the job.”
On that evening, Wanjiru went to pick her daughter from the neighbor but found her very sick. The girl complained of stomach ache, but her mother tried to feed her, and she threw up everything she ate. Around 11 PM, Wanjiru went to check on the condition of the child but found her cold and unresponsive in bed.
With the help of her neighbor, the mother rushed the child to RFH Hospital in Ruai that night, but she was confirmed dead before being brought to the facility.
The househelp named Joyce Onyango, reportedly fled to Kisumu after the allegedly poisoning the child. Authorities have launched a probe into the incident, as they report she switched off her mobile phone around Githurai. The child’s body has been taken to Kenyatta University Funeral Home.
