Kenyan father tried to smuggle baby from hospital due to unpaid bills

A man who was arrested for attempting to smuggle his baby out of a hospital in the Kenyan capital Nairobi has been given a suspended sentence.

Boniface Murage said he tried to carry his daughter out of Kenyatta National Hospital hidden in a paper bag as he could not afford to pay her medical bills.

Some Kenyans sympathised with the father, whose daughter had been in hospital for three weeks.

The 22-year-old was given a three-month suspended sentence following a court case.

Globally, hundreds of thousands of patients every year are thought to be detained over unpaid medical bills, with parts of sub-Saharan Africa and Asia especially affected.

Video journalist: Hassan Lali