Detectives in Mlolongo, Machakos County, have launched a search for a 35-year-old man after his five-year-old son was found dead in a single-roomed house in the Mlolongo Phase III area.
The boy’s body was discovered on Tuesday afternoon. Police said they suspect the boy had been poisoned, although the circumstances surrounding his death were not immediately clear.
The mother had separated from her husband about a month ago following a disagreement and had left with their two children, according to police.
On August 16, the man reportedly contacted her and asked her to return the children. She took them back to their father.
On Tuesday at 2 pm, the woman told police she received an SMS from her husband asking her to go to the house and cook for the children.
She arrived at about 4 pm and found her two-year-old daughter crying at the gate. Upon entering the house, she found her son lying motionless on a mattress.
She tried to contact her husband, but his phone had been switched off.
Police officers who visited the scene said they recovered a quarter-cup container with suspected poison, as well as vomit.
The boy was found with visible injuries on his legs, police said.
Detectives processed the scene before the body was moved to Saitoti Medical Hospital mortuary for preservation and further examination.
Police said they were treating the incident as murder and had launched a search for the boy’s father, whose whereabouts were not immediately known.
Investigations were underway to establish the circumstances surrounding the child’s death, including the source of the suspected poison and the nature of the injuries found on his body.
In a separate incident, a three-year-old child died after a fire broke out in a two-bedroom makuti house in Ganja La Simba village, Kinondo Location, Msambweni Sub-County, Kwale County.
The deceased, who was living with a disability, was among five children who had been left in the house when the fire started at about 9 pm on Tuesday.
According to police, the children’s mother had left the five children in the house when the fire broke out.
Four of the children managed to escape from the burning house unhurt, while Bitoto was unable to get out and was trapped inside.
The child was found dead after the fire was put out.
The scene was processed and documented before the child’s body was removed to Msambweni County Referral Hospital mortuary, where it was preserved pending a postmortem examination.
Police said the cause of the fire had not yet been established and investigations were underway.
