Child dies in botched circumcision procedure

Police in Buvuma District are investigating circumstances under which a baby died hours after being circumcised.

The incident happened on Monday at Kiiko Fishing Village in Buwaga Parish, Bugaya Sub-county in Buvuma District.

Multiple sources at the village told police that the unsuccessful procedure was performed by an unidentified man, who went to the village and called upon Muslims whose children are not circumcised to take them to him for a free circumcision.

The matter was reported to police by Ms Judith Nabuzaale, a former councillor of Bugaya Sub-county in Buvuma District.

Ms Nabuzaale, who condemned the act, said any circumcision procedure is supposed to be performed by a qualified surgeon or urologist. She also wondered why residents are still seeking services of traditional circumcisers.

“Many of the local circumcisers operate under unhygienic conditions, which may cause rare complications, including poor healing, over bleeding or infection. They are not trained to do the work. We have Bugaya Health Centre III, which offers circumcision services at no cost but many residents still go to traditional herbalists,” Ms Nabuzaale said

She added that parents of the deceased have concealed the identity of the suspect from the police claiming that he has been the one circumcising their children over the years without any problem.

Ms Hellen Butoto, the Ssezibwa Police Spokesperson, confirmed the unfortunate incident yesterday, saying the suspect is on the run.

She said Mr Jamal Marshall and wife handed their one-and-two-weeks child to the suspect to be circumcised, which caused a lot of bleeding and later passing on of the baby.

“When police visited the scene and requested the parents of the deceased to make a statement, both refused to share information. However, police are on ground to establish whether the suspect is a trained surgeon qualified to perform such a procedure,” said Ms Butoto.

Ms Butoto appealed to the public to be careful with people who are not known in the community, encouraging those who want their children to get circumcised to seek such services from professionals only in government health facilities.