The wife of controversial televangelist Gilbert Deya was yesterday arrested in her hospital bed in city where she had been admitted after “giving birth” to a baby boy.
Mrs Mary Deya, who is facing a child trafficking charges over the so-called “miracle babies,” was locked up at the Parkland Police Station after tests failed to prove what she claims.
Doctors at the Kenyatta National Hospital said Mrs Deya claimed to have delivered the baby at an unidentified place.
She had been transferred from Nairobi Hospital where she had sought admission at 3am. She arrived at KNH at about 4am with bloodstains, doctors said.
The hospital’s Deputy Director in charge of Clinical Services, Dr Jodham Michemi, said they tested her breasts, private parts and other body parts but nothing came out positive.
“It is good that she came with the placenta as that will help us get the real mother of the baby,” said Michemi.
This is likely to return the spotlight on Mrs Deya and her London-based husband over suspicions that they were passing stolen children for miracle babies.
British authorities are also investigating Deya though they have both denied running a child trafficking syndicate.
Mrs Deya was arrested last year after the seizure of 20 children from her house and another one in Nairobi’s Komarocks estate. She claimed to have given birth through miracles.
The 3kg infant, nicknamed “Mary Gilbert Deya,” was taken to the hospital’s baby unit to await police action.
The doctor said Mrs Deya visited the hospital in June for a pregnancy test, which, too, was negative.
She insisted she was pregnant, Michemi said, and was advised to go for an ultrasound test but declined.
“It is a human trafficking scandal and I do not want this hospital to be associated with it,” he said.
Detectives from Kilimani and CID headquarters interrogated Mrs Deya for about an hour before taking her to Parklands Police Station.
Head of the team, Ms Lilian Kiamba, said police would establish the mother of the baby before taking Mrs Deya to court. But Mrs Deya insisted the baby was hers.
“I am happy to have delivered,” she said with a smile, speaking in Kiswahili. “It is my baby and I am happy.”
A 24-year-old woman who claimed to be her daughter accompanied her.
She said her mother had delivered and wondered why police were disturbing her.