A somber mood engulfed a village in Kakamega County after a two-year-old girl was buried alive in a shallow grave by her playmates.

The children involved in the bizarre incident at Mulwanda village in Ingotse sub-location are aged five, six and seven.

They are reported to have dug up a hole at the back of a house and filled it with water before performing the mock burial of the little girl, identified as Susan Ayuma.

Little Susan was pushed into the hole which was then covered with soil leading to her death. The children later retrieved the body and dumped it next to a banana farm.

The girl’s mother is a single parent who works in Nairobi. She is said to have left her daughter in the care of her mother in the village.

A relative of the girl, Everlyne Ndombi noticed she was missing and started searching the compound. She stumbled on the body and alerted villagers about what had happened.

“I left home early to go to work and returned at midday and noticed Susan was missing. Her grandmother had left her playing in the company of other children to go to the market,” said Ms Ndombi.

She said one of the children told her that Susan had died after they pushed her into a hole filled with water and covered it with soil.

CLEANSING RITUALS

“I could not believe what the child had told me and screamed for help drawing the attention of other villagers,” said Ms Ndombi.

The grandfather of the little girl Mr Meshack Etanda described what had happened as a big misfortune.

“We suspect the children who are underage were playing innocently and tried to imitate what they see in burials in the village,” said Mr Etanda.

He said family members and elders will meet and prepare cleansing rituals for the children involving drinking of herbal concoctions after the burial of the girl.

“If we do not cleanse the three children, a curse may befall them and a similar misfortune will recur in future,” explained Mr Etanda.

The boy said to have led the others in performing the mock burial of the girl has reportedly fled the village fearing reprisals.

Western region police boss Mr Moses Ombati said the death of the girl was accidental. He said investigations were, however, ongoing to establish the circumstances under which the girl died.

“An inquest file will be opened and statements recorded from witnesses before the file is handed over to a magistrate to hear the inquest,” said Mr Ombati.