Four suspects linked to the murder of newborn twins at Dololo Boji village, Dukana Sub-County in Marsabit County, have been arraigned in a Marsabit court.
The accused—Bokayo Jaro Wario, Konso Isacko Godana, Umuro Isacko Godana, and Isacko Godana Adano—were presented before the court in connection with the deaths of the two-day-old twins, but were not required to enter a plea at this stage.
The prosecution informed the court that the four individuals are believed to have been involved in the killing of the fraternal twins, who were born at Dukana Health Center on Sunday, January 19, 2025.
The babies were allegedly murdered by strangulation, in line with an outdated cultural belief within a local community that firstborn twins bring bad omens to a family or clan.
The court granted an application by the prosecution to have the suspects detained for 14 days to allow the police to complete investigations.
Principal Magistrate Simon Arome ordered the suspects to be held at the Marsabit police station to enable detectives to record statements from key witnesses and conduct a mental examination of the four suspects.
The prosecution also sought orders to exhume the bodies of the deceased to pave the way for a postmortem to ascertain the real cause of death of the infants.
The application was granted and the directorate of criminal investigations was ordered to complete the process within 10 days.
Arome further issued an order that the first suspect who is the mother of the deceased babies undergo medical examination to ascertain her age and that she be accorded treatment whenever the need arises.
Bokayo who informed the court that she was 20 years didn’t object to the exhumation of the bodies and the request by the police to hold her in custody to pave the way for investigations.
However, the second suspect, Konso, the first suspect’s mother-in-law who had initially opposed the plan by the police to exhume the bodies later consented to the decision of court.
The case will come up for mention on February 4 this year.