18-Year-Old Mother Arrested For Burying Newborn Baby Alive, Immediately After Giving Birth

By Gad Masereka

Lira: Police in Lira City have detained an 18-year-old mother on suspicion of burying her newborn baby shortly after birth.

Earlier this week, Mirriam Angom, an 18-year-old resident of Bar-Kea village in Ogor Sub County in the Otuke area, gave birth to a baby girl and buried her alive in a hole in Lira City, according to Moses Opio, 48, a resident of Abedpiny cell in the East Division of Lira City. Opio reported this to the local authorities.

The community members and local authorities responded by conducting a rescue search for the infant who had been delivered in the early hours of Monday morning.

According to preliminary investigations, the mother had lately moved from Lira City’s Kirombe Cell, where she had been renting a home, to Abedpiny Cell.

SP Patrick Jimmy Okema, a spokesman for the North Kyoga Regional Police, verified the occurrence.

“The reason for her move was to set herself up for the delivery of her firstborn, a 3-year-old child, to their hometown hamlet. When she moved into her sister’s house, it was revealed that she was also pregnant, said SP Okema.

According to reports, the suspect left the house after allegedly experiencing labour pains and moved some 40 metres away.

Around 4:00 am, on the naked ground, she gave birth to a baby girl there. She used a hoe to dig a shallow pit that was less than 1.5 metres deep and buried her newborn baby alive right away, according to the police.

Okema claimed that soon after the baby had been saved by the neighbourhood, police investigators arrived on the spot.

The baby was rushed to Lira Regional Referral Hospital where she is currently receiving medical care, while the suspect is being held at Lira Central Police Station pending additional investigations.

According to the police, the man has been charged with attempted murder.