Mukono police are holding a woman on allegations of forcefully feeding her teenage step daughter food mixed with her menstrual blood.
Police identified her as Annet Namata, a resident of Mukono Central Division in Mukono municipality.
Namata’s husband, Unusu Lungu, told police that he learnt about the shocking incident from his neighbors who intervened to save his daughter’s life when they saw her vomiting on the veranda after the suspect had gone to trap grasshoppers.
He said the curious residents asked the teenager what had happened but she couldn’t speak and instead pointed at a plate of food inside the sitting room.
The neighbours notified Lungu after giving the teenage girl hot water to cleanse her mouth, garlic and charcoal to swallow.
Namata reportedly confessed and blamed the girl, saying that she removed the blood from a bucket and mixed it with her food.
“She had mixed the blood with egg plants. She reportedly threatened to strangle my daughter if she refused to eat the food. I picked the plate that had the food and took it to her (Namata) and asked her to eat it but she refused saying it was mixed with blood. However, she claimed that she did not know how the blood ended up in the girl’s plate,” Mr Lungu told police.
According to Lungu, Namata fled into hiding when he left to report the matter to local authorities.
The village council leaders sweet talked Namata on phone and convinced her to return for mediation.
Ms Sarah Namawejje, the women local council I representative, said Namata pleaded guilty to the accusations and asked for forgiveness.
Namata claimed that she felt infuriated because of the care her husband gives to his daughter.
“She told me her husband loves his daughter a lot and that she’s the reason he beats her almost daily. She claimed that she was ill advised by her friends to feed the minor with blood so as to turn her into a lunatic,” Ms Namawejje said.
Mr Rogers Sseguya, the Mukono District Police Commander, said they had handed over the matter to the child and family protection unit which is also ensuring sufficient care for the teenager to recover psychologically from this trauma.
