- A Kenyan mother was left alarmed after her househelp allegedly turned on a heater in the children’s bedroom, placing it dangerously close to the curtains.
- The househelp claimed that the woman’s six-year-old son was responsible for switching on the heater and moving it near the curtains.
- After reviewing CCTV footage, the mother discovered that it was, in fact, the househelp who had turned on the heater and moved it close to the curtains.
A Kenyan mother has since shared puzzling home CCTV footage capturing the moment her househelp allegedly attempted to start a fire in her house.
Gracie Shiroh recounted her shock after her three-month domestic worker allegedly turned on the heater in the kids’ bedroom and moved it dangerously close to the curtains, seemingly attempting arson.
Speaking to TRENDYNEWS.co.ke, Shiroh explained that she was chatting with a friend downstairs when her househelp hurriedly approached them, claiming that her six-year-old son had switched on the heater and placed it near the curtains to set them on fire.
“I was shocked to hear it because my son is calm. The househelp could not even let me ask my son what had happened. She went on and on about how my son was the one who nearly caused a fire. My friend asked her to quiet down so that we could talk to the boy and understand what had happened,” she recalled.
The mother decided to head upstairs with her son to question him about what had happened, only to find that the lit heater had severely scorched the curtain.
Shiroh, a businesswoman, noted that the situation could have escalated if not for her daughters, who were upstairs and had quickly rushed into the boy’s room after detecting the strong smell of burning.
CCTV captures househelp’s bizarre act
The mother then spoke to her son to better understand what had taken place.
My son calmly narrated that her auntie (the househelp) switched on the heater and pushed it near the curtains. Since there were two differing stories, I decided to check on my home surveillance footage, which is also linked to my phone,”
She said the CCTV footage captured the househelp switching on the heater and waiting for the little boy to leave the room. The video showed the househelp deliberately moving the heater closer to the curtains to ignite them.
The woman’s daughter was seen entering the room after smelling the burning odour, while the househelp pretended to be shocked that the heater was on during the day. She was then seen talking to the girl before finally turning off the heater.
“After watching the CCTV, I showed it to her, asking why she was lying, and everything was captured on CCTV. She became dead silent. My friend immediately called the police, and she fell to her knees, pleading for forgiveness,” she said.
I tried asking her what her intentions were in burning the curtain with the heater, but she never gave any concrete answers. She was taken to the police station for further questioning,” she said.
Red-flags Shiroh admits that this experience has taught her an invaluable lesson of never ignoring red flags as they culminate into a full-blown incident.
“From her first day when she came, she would break and damage things around my house, but I would ignore such mistakes. I was so determined to stick with her as my househelp that I overlooked some of her mistakes. That’s something I will never do,” she said.
The mum recalled that days before the heater incident, she had captured her on the home CCTV pouring the baby’s milk instead of feeding her.
“I just ignored such mistakes and now my house almost burnt down,” she said adding that she shared the video so as to raise awareness.
Watch the shocking CCTV footage below:
@shirohgracie Still recovering from this incident 😭😭😭😭 #househelps ♬ original sound – Stream Of Life Choir