Shock as woman dumps child in pond

Mbarara

Residents of Rwizi village in Mbarara town were gripped with shock after a fellow resident reportedly dumped her five-year-old baby girl into a pond of water.

The area local council chairperson, Ms Penninah Rwomushumba, said they were alerted by pupils going to school that there was a body floating in a pond of water. Ms Rwomushumba responded by informing the police but their arrival was too late to save the little girl. Residents suspect the lady, who was living in a rented house in Ruti town, could have been forced to throw away the child because of lack of care from the father.

The cause
“We suspect that lack of providence could have forced her to throw this child because she has been suffering after being neglected by her husband. She has been moving around families looking for food with her child,” one resident said.

The police spokesperson for southwestern region, Ms Polly Namaye, said they were called in by the local leaders but found the child already dead. “We now we are mounting a search for who committed this heinous act,” said Ms Namaye.

Though police is appealing to residents to cooperate with them and have the suspect arrested, the residents are already thinking otherwise. “It will be tit-for-tat, we called the police to collect the body of this young innocent girl. We will also call them to take the body of this lady when we get her,” one resident said. However, police warned the residents against taking the law into their own hands.

This is the second time in less than a month that children have been thrown into water bodies. The other incident happened in Kakoba Division early this month where an 18 year-old woman threw her eight-month-old baby into River Rwizi after a misunderstanding with her husband. The suspect has since been produced in court and charged with murder.

Ms Namaye said police are doing a lot of community policing to prevent such incidents and urged round table discussions. She said the authorities can solve partner’s problems wherever reported.