Two arrested over death of 4-year-old girl in Kasese
Police said Mumbere had allegedly been given a bottle of 'Lucky Juice' by his maternal auntie, Mary Mbabazi, with instructions to specifically give it to Musoki.
Two arrested over death of 4-year-old girl in Kasese
____________
A family in Kasese District is seeking answers after a four-year-old girl died shortly after drinking a bottle of juice allegedly given to her by her auntie.
The deceased, identified as Leticia Musoki, a resident of Kamuruli Village, Kagando Parish, Kisinga sub-county, died on Monday, September 21, 2026, in circumstances that have prompted a police investigation.
According to police, the incident started when Musoki's 10-year-old stepbrother, Lodrick Mumbere, returned from his grandparents’ home in Kiyenge Village, Kitabu sub-county.
Police said Mumbere had allegedly been given a bottle of 'Lucky Juice' by his maternal auntie, Mary Mbabazi, with instructions to specifically give it to Musoki.
According to preliminary investigations, Mumbere was reportedly cautioned not to taste the juice and was given sh1,000 to buy his own drink from Kiburara Trading Centre.
After drinking the juice, Musoki reportedly went to sleep. When her mother returned home, she woke the child but found that she was unresponsive, prompting her to rush her to Kagando Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The body was subsequently taken to Muhokya sub-county for burial. However, the circumstances surrounding the child’s death raised concern among local residents and the area chairperson, who reported the matter to Kiburara Police Station on September 22.
Police subsequently picked up Mbabazi and Mumbere for questioning.
Elly Maate, the Rwenzori East regional police spokesperson, said investigators have since examined and documented the scene, recorded statements from relevant witnesses and recovered the child’s body before burial.
Police also recovered the empty juice bottle and some vomit for toxicological analysis to establish whether any poisonous substance was involved in the child’s death.
Maate said investigations were still ongoing, and that the findings of the postmortem and toxicological analysis would help establish what caused the baby's death.
Murder statistics
According to the 2025 annual crime report released early this year, police recorded 4,238 homicide cases in 2025, a slight decrease from 4,329 cases reported in 2024.
The victims included 3,397 adult males, 550 adult females, 173 male juveniles, and 148 female juveniles. Of these, 338 victims were killed through hacking, compared to 310 cases in 2024.
An analysis of data indicated that the motives behind these killings largely stemmed from land disputes, domestic violence, acts of mob justice, family misunderstandings, crimes of passion and business rivalries.