A 23-year-old woman has been arrested after her five-day-old baby was found in an 80-foot pit latrine in Kerugoya, Kirinyaga County, Kenya.

According to Kirinyaga County Commander, Leah Kithei, the woman was arrested when she went to the hospital where the infant is being treated after he was rescued by officers from the County Fire Service Department.

“The medics who were attending to her son called the police after she showed up in the hospital. We are now in the process of interrogating her, after which we will present her in court,” Kithei said on Friday, July 9.

The Head of Fire Services in Kerugoya subcounty, John Kiama, disclosed that the baby was dumped in a pit latrine used by tea and coffee farm workers in one of the homesteads within Kathiti village in Kirinyaga Central subcounty.

According to Kiama, the farmworkers raised alarm when they heard the newborn crying inside the pit. The fire service department immediately deployed men to rescue the baby. However, they had to destroy the latrine to reach the infant.

“Our office received a call from the owner of the farm that a baby was crying inside the pit latrine used by his workers. We immediately rushed to the scene, where we began to retrieve the baby.”

“We managed to retrieve the infant and quickly rushed him to the newborn unit at the Kerugoya County Referral Hospital where he is responding positively to treatment,” Kiama said.

Fortunately, the baby survived the fall and is currently in safe hands.