Woman held over baby-theft
Nov 11, 2007
A woman suspected to have stolen a newly-born baby from Arua Hospital last week has been arrested.
By Frank Mugabi
A woman suspected to have stolen a newly-born baby from Arua Hospital last week has been arrested.
The medical superintendent Dr. Charles Olaro, said Grace Candiru, 20, a resident of Arua town, was arrested after spending over two hours in the maternity ward pretending to be an attendant to a mother who had just given birth.
“The mother gave birth at around 6:30am. As soon as we transferred her to the maternity ward, Candiru came in seeming to know her and volunteered to take water to the bathroom for her.
“When the mother was bathing, Candiru moved out with the baby.â€
Eyewitnesses said the mother was shocked when she returned to find her baby and the purported helper missing.
The district criminal investigations chief, Romano Okuja, said the Police traced the suspect to her hideout with the help of a boda-boda cyclist who had transported her from the hospital gate.
“We got her three kilometres away from town with the baby,†Okuja said.
In a statement to the Police, Candiru said her husband had sent her back to her parents to ‘investigate why after two years, she was still childless’.
“I wanted to nurture the baby as my own. I was not taking her for ritual sacrifice,†she said.
Candiru also revealed that she had sh23,000, part of which (sh13,000) was to purchase the baby’s necessities including a milk bottle, while the balance would help her start a “small businessâ€.
Okuja said Candiru was being detained at Arua Central Police Station and she would be charged as soon as investigations were complete.
The case was the second in two years at the hospital.
After the incident, Olaro said the hospital management had resolved that each patient in the maternity ward would be allowed only one attendant.
The public, he added, must stick to stipulated visiting hours and no newborn babies shall leave the hospital premises before 11:00am when mothers are generally discharged.
Olaro said security officials had been instructed to scrutinise people leaving the hospital premises with newly-born babies.
A woman suspected to have stolen a newly-born baby from Arua Hospital last week has been arrested.
The medical superintendent Dr. Charles Olaro, said Grace Candiru, 20, a resident of Arua town, was arrested after spending over two hours in the maternity ward pretending to be an attendant to a mother who had just given birth.
“The mother gave birth at around 6:30am. As soon as we transferred her to the maternity ward, Candiru came in seeming to know her and volunteered to take water to the bathroom for her.
“When the mother was bathing, Candiru moved out with the baby.â€
Eyewitnesses said the mother was shocked when she returned to find her baby and the purported helper missing.
The district criminal investigations chief, Romano Okuja, said the Police traced the suspect to her hideout with the help of a boda-boda cyclist who had transported her from the hospital gate.
“We got her three kilometres away from town with the baby,†Okuja said.
In a statement to the Police, Candiru said her husband had sent her back to her parents to ‘investigate why after two years, she was still childless’.
“I wanted to nurture the baby as my own. I was not taking her for ritual sacrifice,†she said.
Candiru also revealed that she had sh23,000, part of which (sh13,000) was to purchase the baby’s necessities including a milk bottle, while the balance would help her start a “small businessâ€.
Okuja said Candiru was being detained at Arua Central Police Station and she would be charged as soon as investigations were complete.
The case was the second in two years at the hospital.
After the incident, Olaro said the hospital management had resolved that each patient in the maternity ward would be allowed only one attendant.
The public, he added, must stick to stipulated visiting hours and no newborn babies shall leave the hospital premises before 11:00am when mothers are generally discharged.
Olaro said security officials had been instructed to scrutinise people leaving the hospital premises with newly-born babies.