Police hunt for man who impregnated P.6 girl with triplets
Kamuli pupil delivers triplets
KAMULI.
Police in Kamuli District in eastern Uganda have launched a manhunt for the father of triplets who were born to a Primary Six girl, with the possibility of charging him with defilement, the Busoga North Police Spokesperson, Mr Michael Kasadha has said.
The girl, a pupil of Nawandyo Primary School in Nawandyo Village, Bugulumbya Sub-county in Kamuli District, whose names have not been disclosed because she is a minor, last week gave birth by normal delivery to a girl and two boys at Kamuli mission hospital.
Hospital records suggest that the ‘father of the triplets’ is Joshua Baya, a shamba boy who is also reported to have cleared the bill. The girl has, however, only named the triplets’ father as ‘Joshua’, saying that she doesn’t recall his second name!
Mr Kasadha on Wednesday said the pupil was defiled and the moment they find her parents, they will follow-up on the matter.
“I am going to find out if the case was reported; but it is possible that she gave birth without a report being filed against her. This is because the would-be stakeholders keep quiet because they want money. These are some of the challenges we are facing,” he said.
Ms Kevin Magoba, the in-charge maternity ward, said the girl delivered normally on May 5 and was discharged on May 7. “The babies were premature (seven months) and the mother had eclampsia.
“The first baby was weak and couldn’t suck well and had to be admitted and discharged after three days. All the babies were weighing 1.9 kilograms and are all in a good condition including the mother. The mother had a heavy breath but it was also controlled,” she said.
A report which was released by the district health department showed that 7,000 teenage deliveries were recorded last year but only 300 cases were reported to police,” Mr Kasadha said.
The Kamuli District Annual Deliveries report which was recently released by Mr Moses Lyagoba, the Assistant Kamuli District Health Officer in-charge of maternal child health, shows that out of 35,509 deliveries in 2018, 7,070 were teenage deliveries.
These figures, generated from annual reports from the district health office, exclude unreported cases of abortion and deliveries outside the 47 health centres within the District, Mr Lyagoba added.
According to Mr Lyagoba, all the 47 health centers file their returns to the District which in turn sends them to the Ministry of Health.
Mr Kasadha said despite 7,000 teenage deliveries being recorded in Kamuli District last year, only 300 cases of defilement were reported to police.
And while the report says that out of 2,615 mothers who took on family planning, only 675 were teenage mothers, Mr Lyagoba said a ‘significant number’ feared to deliver from health centres because they will be charged with abetting defilement.
