CONTINUED FROM PART 1…
A year later, in 2016, Christine became expectant and to avoid suspicion, her cousin Allan settled down with his girlfriend as Christine moved out of the house.
“Despite our affair, he used to have a girlfriend who knew me so well as Allan’s sister. We tried thrice to terminate the pregnancy,” she says.
After the third attempt without success, they agreed that Allan would cater for the child once it was born.
Allan relocated from Thika road to an unknown estate as Christine moved to Rongai.
Their secrete remained guarded until when a bouncing baby boy was born. The fact that she lived at the furthest end of the town made her house a lock out for relatives.
Still, some family members joined to congratulate her, with many planning to visit her and the baby.
My mother gave me a shocking look
One year after delivering her baby, Christine thought of visiting her parents back in the village.
Despite the disappointed that parents have whenever a daughter gets a baby out of wedlock, Christine’s father never suspected anything, but a mother’s instinct never goes wrong.
Her mother was able to connect the dots. She knew right away that her grandson resembled one of her nephews.
“The reaction she gave when she saw the boy made me realize that I was in danger. I am happy she didn’t’ confront me in dad’s presence, but waited for an ideal time,” says Christine, who adds that she had to tell her mother the truth, but that didn’t save her from being sent away.
Her mother advised her to leave the village and never show up again.
For my son’s safety
Christine took her mother’s advise, and went underground – in Nairobi. She has never thought of taking her son back to her rural home again.
“The whole incident has affected my affection for men. I lost that urge of settling down and I don’t see it happening sooner. I was forced to relocate my son to Mombasa for his own safety.
“He currently stays with my elder sister who also knows the real dad,” says Christine adding that despite receiving support from Allan, who her son knows as uncle Allan, she has never had the courage of revealing the truth to her son despite the son asking the whereabouts of his father.
Rituals
Simon Wafula, a Kakamega elder explains that a ritual known as amanyasi was to be performed to clense the parties and save the child from death.
According to Peter Nabongo, King of the Wanga confirmed that culturally incest was judged harshly and penalties were severe. The couple was to be subjected to series of rituals.
First, the midwives had to ensure the baby never sees the light of the day, this means that the baby would be suffocated during birth by the midwife and later buried outside the fence of the girl’s homestead, as it was seen a bad omen.