Masaka Grade I Magistrate, Aloysius Natwijuka has sentenced a 33-year old woman, Stellah Namwanje of Binyonyi A zone in Nyando-Mukungwe division, in Masaka City to 35 years in jail after she pleaded guilty to the offence of forcing her friend’s 11-month child to eat her (Namwanje’s) faeces and drink her urine.
Namwanje was arrested following a social media video which went viral showing her defecating on the 11-month toddler and later forcing the minor to eat and drink her waste.
On Thursday, the suspect was arraigned before court where she pleaded guilty to the charges brought against her.
Following the sensitivity of the case, the prosecutor Brian George Kalinaki prayed to the trial magistrate to momentarily adjourn the court to give him time to think about a befitting punishment for Namwanje’s inhuman act.
The court reconvened at 11.00 am and in his submission, the prosecutor Kalinaki told the attentive court that Namwanje had undergone a psychiatrist’s examination at Masaka government hospital and was found to be of sound mind; he also disclosed that she was found to be HIV-positive.
Kalinaki also reported that the victimized child also proved negative on being tested, and that she was given a dose of PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis), an emergency prescription for people in danger of contracting the HIV/Aids virus before 72 hours of exposure.
Kalinaki also said the accused’s act was very toxic, and that it could not be ruled out that she could administer such treatment to many other children, and so prayed court to give her a deterrent sentence. He suggested either life imprisonment or a jail term of not less than 30 years.
Asked whether she had anything to say before being jailed, Namwanje appealed for forgiveness, saying she was not conscious of what she was doing when she committed the offence.
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In response, the trial magistrate lamented that the accused failed to observe the responsibility of all Ugandans to safeguard the lives of the nation’s children, adding that she deserved a heavy punishment.
The magistrate considered Namwanje’s remorsefulness and the fact that she did not waste court’s time, hence, sentencing her to 35 years in jail.
He however cautioned prospective child abusers not to think that they would be treated with such sympathy.
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