Two children found in shallow grave; mother and boyfriend arrested
A portrait of Ms Brenda Cheptoo and her children Salim Kipkemoi(6) and Sheila Chepkemoi(8). The bodies of the minors were found buried in a shallow grave at the family's farm in Sibaik Village in Bureti Constituency in Kericho County. The mother has been arrested and is being treated as a key suspect in the murder.
What you need to know:
- Directorate of Criminal Investigations detectives in Kericho arrested the mother, who has been on the run for more than a week, and a man believed to be her lover.
- During her arrest, Ms Cheptoo was working as a bar attendant in Litein and Kericho towns.
When Salim Kipkemoi, 6, and Sheila Chepkemoi,8, woke up on July 12, they were in jovial moods, ready to face the day.
They had breakfast as usual and later, lunch with their mother, Brenda Cheptoo, and grandmother, Joylene Soi.
Like any other children of their age, they later went playing around their home in Sibaik Village in Bureti Constituency, Kericho County,
Their grandmother also left to do some shopping at a nearby market adjacent to the Kericho- Nyamira highway.
Little did she know that that was the last time she would see her grandchildren alive. When she returned home that evening, her grandchildren and their mother were missing.
Who killed the minors?
A couple of days later, a shocking discovery was made: Ms Soi’s grandchildren lay dead and buried in a shallow grave at one corner of her farm, but their mother was still missing.
What happened? Who killed the minors and why?
Ms Brenda Cheptoo, who has been arrested for allegedly killing her two children, Salim Kipkemoi(6) and Sheila Chepkemoi(8). The bodies of the minors were found buried in a shallow grave at the family's farm in Sibaik Village in Bureti Constituency in Kericho County.
These are some of the questions the family has been grappling with since Wednesday, July 17, when the bodies were discovered in a shallow grave.
However, on Saturday, Directorate of Criminal Investigations detectives in Kericho arrested the mother, who has been on the run for more than a week, and a man believed to be her lover.
During her arrest, Ms Cheptoo was working as a bar attendant in Litein and Kericho towns.
Following the arrests, fresh details have emerged that Ms Cheptoo might have killed her children in the hope of getting married to her lover.
"She was arrested in Litein with a man believed to be her lover. She disclosed that she killed her children because they hindered her from getting married to her lover. She therefore decided to end their lives so that she could get married," revealed the senior DCI detective.
Kericho County Police Commander, Geoffrey Mayek, revealed that the two were set to be arraigned once detectives complete their investigations.
"We have arrested the mother of the two children and a man believed to be her lover. We are treating the two as key suspects in the murder as we continue with further investigations into the incident," said Mr Mayek.
The bodies of the two children were found last Wednesday, wrapped in a blanket, in a shallow grave.
Ms Brenda Cheptoo, who has been arrested for allegedly killing her two children n Bureti Constituency in Kericho County.
Pungent smell
The bodies were discovered by Mr Dennis Kimutai Yegon, an uncle to the minors, who was constructing a fence around his farm.
Mr Yegon said he got curious when he saw two dogs digging a hole in the banana farm and pulling out a blanket.
On moving closer, he was hit by a pungent smell from the shallow hole and upon further investigations, unearthed the bodies buried in a shallow pit nearby, an incident that has shocked residents.
He chased the dogs away and discovered two mutilated bodies wrapped in a red blanket before he called the area chief, who in turn informed the area police boss.
According to a detective investigating the murders, preliminary investigations indicated that the two, who were pupils in Grade 1 and PP1 at Kipkerkeny Primary School, may have been buried in the shallow grave approximately one week ago.
"The shallow grave measuring about one metre deep appeared fresh and we suspect they were buried there about a week ago. We are following crucial leads to establish if there are more suspects involved, but the mother is being treated as a key suspect in the murder," revealed the senior DCI officer investigating the matter.
The grandmother, Ms Soi said she left them at home on July 12 at around 4 pm to go shopping.
“I left them at home jovial and playing, but when I returned at around 7.30 pm, I didn't find them and assumed that their mother had taken them with her,” she said.
A neighbour, Beatrice Cherotich, revealed to Nation.Africa that she had called their mother on July 14 and she said that she was in Nakuru with her children.
“She told me that she was in Nakuru with them and abruptly hung up when I asked about the welfare of the children,” she said.
Other neighbors said the children were last seen with the mother before they went missing.
The bodies of the minors are currently preserved at the Kapkatet Hospital mortuary pending an autopsy.
