Street child uncovers Foetus dumped near Thika Police station
A street urchin in Thika Friday uncovered the body of an infant when searching for leftover food in a dust bin managed by the Municipal council. The early morning incident attracted a large crowd leading to a traffic snarl- up as residents rushed to the scene.
“I managed to pull it out and placed it on the pavement curious about its contents. This seemed to be a lucky morning for me . The moment I opened it up and split the contents on the ground I fainted.” Photo courtesy of Leonard Kiarie
The dust bin is located opposite Thika Municipal Stadium, near the junction of Nellion Plaza and Thika Police station; and a few meters away from Chase Bank, Thika Branch entrance.
Police were called in to take charge of the situation as angry residents demanded an explanation. The following is a tribute to the life that was taken away even before it began:
Fast Forward 17th August 2042, 8.50 AM
The remote Thika village street was lined by smiling residents. The air was full of song and dance as the villagers chanted victory songs for their latest warrior. Although over time they had witnessed many joyful occasions, this one was highly anticipated due to the pride that it brought along.
The village was welcoming its favorite son, Joseph Hope. This was their beacon of hope for a sleepy village which had not borne many great sons with knowledge and power. He had been conferred with a PHD from Oxford University, the first in the whole county.
For Mary, a single mother, this was the best gift that the lord had given her in decades. Her only son would wash away all her tears; the tears of a single parent having struggled to educate her bright son; the pain of a woman who at only 17 bore a son and as fast as the young man appeared, so did he disapper.
Some say the young man married a beautiful woman, some say he flew to America after winning a green card lottery. However, from the local CDF and family harambees, Mary managed to take her son to school from where his intelligent nature earned him scholarships all the way to Oxford.
The laborious journey was now over for Mary. She could now bask in the glory of her son’s success who had even initiated a project that would give her a 3 bedroom bungalow with enough land around it to do her favorite activity, farming. This was a different ending, almost a distant memory from when she lived in Thika’s Kiandutu slums where she had brought up her son single handedly.
Flash Back 17th August 2012, 8.50 AM
The crowd of angry onlookers gathers at the spot as their number increases with every second. A traffic snarl up is building as motorist crane their necks to have a glimpse. Some mothers are sobbing and others whispering in low tones.
The anger on the onlookers’ faces is visible. Most of the women heading to their offices are cursing bitterly while the men are wearing gloomy faces. Some children are trying to wiggle their way through the crowd to have a glimpse of the proceedings.
There are no chants of joy this time but grumbles from one end of the crowd to the other. Everyone seems shocked and dismayed. The spot is next to a Municipal Council dust bin. It’s opposite Thika Municipal Stadium, near the junction of Nellion Plaza and Thika Police station; and a few meters from Chase Bank, Thika Branch entrance.
A street child is narrating to the police his firsthand account of how he uncovered the body: “I was just rummaging for leftovers since this is usually my favorite spot, then I saw a big black polythene bag at the bottom of the bin,” said the boy who did not reveal his name. Everyone is following the story word by word.
“I managed to pull it out and placed it on the pavement curious about its contents. This seemed to be a lucky morning for me since from the outside; it looked like a big chunk of meat. The moment I opened it up and split the contents on the ground I fainted,” the street boy explains to the crowd as three policemen break into the front of the crowd.
My friends, on the floor lay the dumped foetus of Joseph Hope with his umbilical cord strung around his tiny neck. Incidentally he never got the opportunity to attend Oxford University. He never got to enjoy this life since his first contact with it was not the beginning of his destiny to make a difference but a brutal condemnation to a desolate dirty Municipal trash bin.
The country has been robbed of a life, a leader, a teacher, a doctor, a lawyer, a journalist. He will never live to share stories on his Facebook page, he will never get massive followers on twitter and he will never enjoy the fruits of the new constitution. Why? because he was robbed of his life before birth.
As the Thika Police gently collect what is left of Joseph, the life-giving umbilical cord hangs around his small neck and the crowd stares with gloom as if to say goodbye to a son they never lived to meet. Some are barren mothers who would do anything to bring a son to this world. The crowd starts dispersing and in a few minutes everyone gets back to their normal life.
The Thika Police department has initiated investigations into the circumstances leading to the dumping of the foetus. The Friday morning incident acts as a reminder of the moral decay in society. Life is sacred whether fully nurtured or unborn.
