Staff ReporterA recent study in Kenya has found that nearly half of the Kenyan mothers with disabled babies were pressured to kill them.
The two-year research, carried out by the charity Disability Rights International, also found that such mothers are often blamed for the conditions of their children.
More than two-thirds of mothers examined said disabled children were considered a curse.
They told researchers they were accused of having sinned – and brought it upon themselves.
One said her grandmother suggested she put needles in her son’s veins to kill him slowly. Another that she should feed her child acid.
The study did not, however, reveal the proportion of parents who ended their disabled babies’ lives.
Many communities across the world which carried out infanticide in the past have ended the practice. It is illegal in Kenya.
