Infant dies under 6-year-old's care as mother celebrates Valentine's Day

A Google map showing Lukaya Municipality in Kalungu District, Uganda, where an eight-month-old baby died while under the care of her six-year-old sister. PHOTO | DAILY MONITOR | GOOGLE MAPS

What you need to know:

  • Police said the infant had been sick.
  • But the mother is said to have left her eight-month-old and six-year-old children alone in the house.
  • The younger child died and was discovered by a friend hours later.

Police in Kalungu District are searching for a woman whose eight-month-old baby died while under the care of her six-year-old daughter.

She had left the two children at home alone and gone out to celebrate Valentine’s Day with her friends, despite knowing that the infant was unwell, police said.

INVESTIGATIONS

The woman’s neighbour, Ms Annet Nabulya, said: “She left home at around midday and by evening, she had not returned. We were alerted by one of her friends who had gone to check on the children only to find the baby not breathing.”

“Some of us could not tell that the baby was dead and so we advised her [the woman’s friend] to rush her to the clinic where the nurse confirmed she was already dead,” Ms Nabulya added.

When the mother was called on the phone, she reportedly told her neighbours that it was the baby’s fate and her presence at home would not have changed anything.

“She switched off her phone and has not been seen since,” added Ms Nabulya.

The body was taken to Masaka Regional Referral Hospital as police launched investigations into the matter.

The officer in charge of Lukaya Police Station, Mr Vianney Birungi, urged neighbours and anyone with information on the woman’s whereabouts to inform authorities.