A two-year-old girl identified as Susan Ayuma was reportedly buried alive in a shallow grave by her playmates aged five, six and seven, in a village in Kakamega County, Kenya.

According to NairobiNews, they reportedly dug up a hole at the back of a house, filled it with water, pushed her into it and covered the hole. They later retrieved her dead body and dumped it next to a banana farm.

Before the unfortunate incident, her mother, a single parent who works in Nairobi, had left her in the care of her grandmother in the village. One of her relatives, Everlyne Ndombi, later noticed she was missing and searched the compound.

Ndombi said,

“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.”

She added that 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.

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

Describing the incident as a big misfortune, late Susan’s grandfather, Mr Meshack Etanda, said,

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

The boy said to have led the others in performing the mock burial has reportedly fled the village in fear of a reprisal.

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

Sad!