By Robert Segawa
Police in Bwera, Kasese District, have arrested a 28-year-old woman and a 10-year-old boy in connection with the death of a four-year-old girl in Kisinga Sub-county.
The suspects have been identified as Mbabazi Mary, who is the sister of the deceased girl’s mother, and Mumbere Lodrick, the 10-year-old stepbrother of the deceased, Musoki Leticia.
Leticia was a resident of Kamuruli Village, Kagando Parish, Kisinga Sub-county, Kasese District.
According to Rwenzori East Regional Police spokesperson ASP Elly Maate, the two suspects were arrested to assist police with investigations into the circumstances surrounding the child’s death.
Maate said that on September 21, 2026, at about 10am, Lodrick, while at home in the absence of his stepmother and father, gave Leticia a bottle of what has been described as “Lucky Juice.”
Police allege that the juice had earlier been given to Lodrick by his aunt, Mbabazi, with instructions to give it specifically to Leticia. He was reportedly cautioned not to drink it and was instead given Shs1,000 to buy his own drink from Kiburara Trading Centre.
After drinking the juice, Leticia reportedly went to sleep. When her mother returned home, she woke the child but found that she was unresponsive.
The mother rushed Leticia to Kagando Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The child’s body was subsequently taken to Muhokya Sub-county for burial. However, the circumstances surrounding the death reportedly raised concern among local leaders, prompting the area chairperson to report the matter to Kiburara Police Station on September 22.
Police then picked up Mbabazi and Lodrick for questioning.
Maate said police visited and documented the scene, recorded statements from relevant witnesses and retrieved the child’s body from Muhokya, where it had been taken for burial.
The body was conveyed to Bwera Hospital for a postmortem examination.
Police also recovered an empty bottle believed to have contained the juice, as well as some vomit samples, which were taken for toxicological analysis.
Maate said investigations are ongoing as police await the results of samples submitted to the Government Analytical Laboratory (GAL) to establish the cause of death.
Police have not yet established whether the drink was responsible for the child’s death.
