Police in Mbarara is holding a 28yr old woman suspected of stealing a toddler from Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital.
The Hospital Director Celestine Barigye said that Kiconco Monica (mother of the baby) was admitted on 15th October for delivery by caesarian section but after birth the baby was stolen by unknown persons in the night.
Police would later launch a search for the baby, who they recovered on Saturday morning with a Joyce Koburungi in Katete Cell, Mbarara.
Dr. Barigye said that Koburungi claimed to be one of the nurses from the pediatric lab in the hospital and gave some tablets to the mother who fell asleep as she stole the 2 day old baby boy.
Hospital staff and the baby’s mother sfter it was recovered
Taban Chiriga, the OCCID confirmed that police trucked Joyce and she was arrested from Golden Monkey lodges in Kijungu Mbarara where she was hiding.
Chiringa identified Koburungi as an enrolled nurse who owns Joyce clinic in Bukanga Isingiro district.
He further revealed that she (Koburungi) is married to the town clerk of Kabuyanda town council in Isingiro district and that she has been having a problem of not conceiving which prompted her to steal a baby to save her marriage.
Mbarara Referral Hospital Director, Celestine Barigye (L) with OCCID Mbarara, Taban Chiringa speaking to journalists on Saturday
Chiringa warned mothers at the hospital to stop trusting attendants at the hospital saying the trend of baby stealing is on the rise.
“If you know you have family challenges of not conceiving; mothers reach baby’s homes because child adopting is legal in Uganda,” Chiringa advised.
He urged the hospital to install CCTV surveillance cameras in the wards to monitor who accesses the hospital.
He confirmed that Joyce will be charged of child trafficking in person which is could attract a death sentence if found guilty.