Couple arrested for burying dolls in replacement of their twins

A middle-aged woman and her 38-year-old husband — both residents of Homa Bay County — have been arrested after they buried baby dolls instead of their supposed “dead” twin children.

The couple, Benson Onyango and Beryl Akinyi, who live at Kamsama Village in Suba North Constituency escaped lynching on Wednesday when neighbours discovered that the couple’s interred ‘children’ were actually dummies.

According to the neighbours, Onyango and Akinyi claimed their children died soon after birth.

Akinyi’s brother-in-law, Wycliffe Ogembo, said Akinyi left home two weeks ago for delivery at the Homa Bay County Referral Hospital.

The woman, however, said she developed labor complications and had to be referred to the Aga Khan Hospital in Kisumu.

Ogembo says his family members questioned why Akinyi was referred to another health facility despite giving birth to one of the twins at Homa Bay Hospital via Caesarean section.

According to Ogembo, a call for referral to the Aga Khan Hospital was made 15 minutes after the birth of the first baby, which, according to him, raised eyebrows.

A new twist to the puzzle, however, came a few days later, when Akinyi and her husband, Onyango, claimed their children had died shortly after birth.

Onyango, a carpenter by profession, made two coffins that were to be used to bury the “dead” children.

On Tuesday, May 7, Akinyi arrived at Homa Bay’s Kabunde airstrip, where “she found her husband waiting for her”.

The couple allegedly placed the “bodies” in a Toyota Probox and drove home.

Upon arrival, the man and wife “decided to bury the children without informing their respective family members”.

Residents, who did not buy the lovers’ story, exhumed the graves and removed the “bodies” from the coffins, only top discover that the interred “remains” were baby dolls.

The neighbours attempted to lynch Akinyi and Onyango, but police officers from Mbita post arrived at the scene and rescued the suspects.

It remains unknown whether Akinyi, who until recently appeared pregnant, gave birth or not.

It is also suspected that maybe, Akinyi gave birth and sold her babies, claims which are yet to be proven.

Homa Bay County police commander, Esther Seroney, confirmed the incident, saying they will take Akinyi to hospital for medicals tests to establish whether she was a new mother or not.