Police in Buikwe are holding a woman identified as Naggayi Ratifah, on allegations of murder and attempting to murder five of her neighbour’s children.
It is said that at around 6pm on Saturday December 18, Batala Ahmed and his wife Nakiwu Fatuma, both residents of Buwaga village in Buikwe Sub-county, left for burial ceremony within their village Buwaga leaving their five children together with other two children (of the neighbour).
It is alleged that at around 11pm, the suspect, Naggali Ratifah, left the burial place together with a one Shafik, another son of Batala who were both carrying food in the black polythene bag from the burial place to their respective homes.
However, since Naggayi was carrying a baby, she tasked Shafik to carry all the foods as they went home and on arrival, Shafik branched at their home and dropped food meant for the five children and went back to the burial place, leaving Naggayi at Batala’s home while picking her two children that she had left there.
When Batala later returned home, he found all his five children in house critically ill and unconscious. On suspecting that they could have been poisoned, he rushed them to St. Charles Lwanga Hospital in Buikwe where one of them, 7-year old Nabirye Elinah, was pronounced dead on arrival and body taken to Mulago City Mortuary.
The remaining children were admitted at the St Charles Lwanga hospital where later, another child Batala Muzafaru also died.
The children now admitted and under intensive medical care are Nantambi Hanifah aged 9 years, Nabirye Elinah aged 7 years, Kansobya Aidah aged 4 years and Kyakutuma Edith aged 11 years.
Detectives from Buikwe police station have since visited the crime scene and collected samples of the remaining food.
They have arrested Naggayi on grounds that she could be in the know of the suspected poisoning because she has allegedly ever threatened to cause harm to the said family since her husband, a one Kyambadde Hasan, who is their immediate neighbour, once had an affair with the sister of Batala and suspected Batala to have been the middle man.
The area police say more inquiries and investigations into the matter are ongoing.