One-week-old baby stolen from Mbarara Hospital
A section of Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital. PHOTO/FILE/COURTESY
What you need to know:
- Authorities have urged locals to provide any information leading to the child’s recovery and apprehension of the suspect.
Authorities in Uganda’s western region are searching for a baby girl who was stolen from Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital (MRRH) on September 16, about seven days after her birth.
Ms Jean Asingwire reportedly delivered the child by caesarean section at Kinoni Health Centre IV in Rwampara District on September 9, 2022 but was referred to Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital after her uterus raptured.
The MRRH Communications Officer Mr Halison Kagure September 21 said the baby was stolen after Ms Asingwire and her caretaker established a relationship with a stranger while in the maternity ward.
“It’s said that on Friday last week, a female stranger came into the ward and established rapport with Ms Asingwire and her caretaker mother in law identified as Ms Medius Kasande. The stranger later tricked them to take the child for vaccination at the child clinic at the outpatient department,” Ms Kagure told Monitor.
He added that: “The mother left the baby with her mother-in-law to go and provide the details of the discharge form and that of the baby to the health workers before immunisation. The stranger exploited this time to pick the baby from the grandmother and smuggled it out of the hospital.”
By Wednesday afternoon, authorities had made no major breakthrough in finding the baby missing three years after the health facility last recorded a similar incident.
“The last one at this hospital happened in 2019 but the baby was recovered from a girl who had faked a pregnancy to her boyfriend,” Ms Kagure recounted.
Mr Godfrey Mucunguzi, the father of the missing baby said the family remains traumatised over the incident.
“We pray that God helps us get our baby when she is still alive. We don’t know the motive of those that stole the baby,” Mr Mucunguzi told this publication on Wednesday.
Authorities have urged locals to provide any information leading to the child’s recovery and apprehension of the suspect.
The Rwizi region police spokesperson Mr Samson Kasasira confirmed the incident adding that the Force is working with the hospital administration to recover the child.
“We are exploiting all the clues and the security team is on the ground to see the baby is recovered and the perpetrator arrested and prosecuted. We also appeal for vigilance from the,” Mr Kasasira emphasized.
According to the Police Annual Crime Report 2021, 213 cases of child theft were reported.
