A 33-year-old woman is set to stand trial after allegedly abandoning her nine-month-old daughter with a neighbour for over a week, claiming she needed to retrieve a television so the infant could watch cartoons and avoid boredom.

Jane Wangechi appeared before Makadara Senior Principal Magistrate Renee Kitagwa at the Makadara Law Courts, where she pleaded not guilty to charges of child neglect contrary to the Children Act.

According to the charge sheet, on March 13, 2026, in the Kamulu area of Ruai Sub-County, Nairobi County, Wangechi, mother to the minor identified as M.W., “willfully caused her to be a child in need of care and protection by abandoning her without food or anyone to look after her.”

Court proceedings revealed that on the day in question, Wangechi approached her neighbour and requested her to watch the baby, promising to make a quick trip to Dandora to collect a television she had left at her previous residence.

She then departed without leaving any food, clothing, or other essentials for the infant, and never returned as promised.

After three days without any communication from the mother, the concerned neighbour contacted the child’s father, who urged her to continue caring for the baby while he took appropriate action.

The matter was eventually reported to a children’s officer. The baby was later placed in a children’s home in Ruai, where she is currently receiving proper care.

Wangechi told Magistrate Kitagwa that she had not abandoned the child, claiming she had gone to do some work and left the baby under the care of her house help.

State prosecutor Erick Kyalo urged the court to open a protection and care case for the child and directed the children’s officer to table a report before the court.

The accused has since been granted cash bail of Sh10,000.